Sagi Muki sets Tel Aviv judo crowd on fire

The home crowd in Tel Aviv had high expectation for Sagi Muki of Israel to win gold in a relative new weight category U81kg. Muki won European Games gold in 2015 U73kg but could convert success in his category U81kg. However with the European top present in Tel Aviv that assignment was not easy.

Israel's Sagi Muki sent home fans into raptures by claiming gold in the men's U81 kilogram category at the European Judo Championships in Tel Aviv.

The 25-year-old, who won a gold medal at the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, secured the title with a waza-ari finish against Belgium's Sami Chouchi, who won the top prize at his country's national championships last year, in a final that lasted six minutes and 19 seconds.

Antonio Esposito of Italy and Russia's Aslan Lappinagov shared bronze.

Today's other men's event saw Armenia's Ferdinand Karapetian, who used to compete Russia, secure his first ever senior title with an excellent display in the men’s U73kg competition.

The 25-year-old clinched the gold medal with an ippon finish against 2017 European Championships gold medallist Hidayat Heydarov of Azerbaijan.

Turkey's Bilal Ciloglu and Sweden's Tommy Macias shared bronze.

The headline event of today’s women’s competition was a rematch of the U63kg Rio 2016 Olympic final between Tina Trstenjak of Slovenia and Clarisse Agbegnenou of France.

After losing the Olympic final in Rio, Agbegnenou took revenge this time around with an ippon finish just after the seven-minute mark ensuring she claimed gold.

Lucy Renshall of Great Britain and Martyna Trajdos of Germany collected the bronze medals.

The other women's event today saw Great Britain's Sally Conway, who won bronze at Rio 2016, take on Kim Polling of The Netherlands in the U70kg final.

It was Polling who eventually emerged triumphant after five minutes on the match thanks to an ippon finish. It was her fourth European title since 2013 and this one at Kingsday in the Netherlands was special.

Conway's compatriot Gemma Howell and Austria's Michaela Polleres shared bronze.