European Open in Tallinn gives chances for new generation

The European Cup for Seniors in Tallinn is the first World ranking point scoring event of the EJU. 218 Athletes of 26 nations came to the Estonian capital for the 14 gold medals. Most over a new generation after the Olympic Games are aiming to settle for Tokyo 2020.

Among the nations big delegations from Poland, Finland, Belarus, Lithuania and home country Estonia with 15 judoka. The event is also a good preparation for the European U23 Championships in Israel in November. A lot is expected from the judoka from Poland, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands and Italy. The Italians have new fire with their excellent two medals by Giuffrida and Basile which is a great motivation for the new generation, in fact having the same age as the youngsters who outperformed at the Olympic Games.

Two years ago, the previous edition of the European Open The Netherlands was strong with three gold medals. Some of the winners made it to the Olympic Games such as bronze medallist Or Sasson, but also Shira Rishony, Daria Pogorzelec and Svitlana Iaromka won in Tallinn in 2014 and qualified for Rio.

This weekend more chances for 100 points for a good seeding at the next events. Who knows some of the Estonian athletes can take a gold medals such as heavyweight Juhan Mettis who is the most appealing name in the Estonian team.