The European Judo Championships officially kick off today in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro.
Five members of Azerbaijan’s national team will take to the tatami on the opening day of the tournament, Idman.biz reports.
Men
60 kg
Ahmad Yusifov entered the competition in the Round of 32, defeating Israel's Itzhak Ashpis. He followed up with another win against Alexandru Matei of Romania to reach the quarterfinals, where he was stopped by France’s Luka Mkheidze.
Turan Bayramov began with a victory over Malta’s James Zahra in the Round of 32, then overcame Hungary’s Sanad Fečko in the Round of 16. However, a quarterfinal loss to Ayub Bliev (IJF) In the repechage round, Bayramov faced his teammate Yusifov, with Ahmad coming out on top in the Azerbaijani duel. Yusifov will now compete for the bronze medal against Spain’s Francisco Garrigos.
66 kg
Ruslan Pashayev suffered an early exit after losing his opening bout to Boyan Yotov of Bulgaria.
Women
48 kg
Konul Aliyeva won her opening match against Paulina Szlachta (Poland) but couldn’t get past Turkiye’s Tugce Beder in the next round.
52 kg
Gultaj Mammadaliyeva was eliminated in the Round of 32 after a loss to Germany’s Chiara Serra.
The European Championships will run until April 27. Team Azerbaijan has sent a delegation of 15 judokas (9 men and 6 women) to the tournament.
Idman.biz
