Fuengirola showcases excellent cadet competition

Ten winning nations at the Cadet European Cup in Fuengirola, a very successful tournament with a record number of athletes (488) in Spain. The interest in Cadet Judo is growing and with the circumstances and training camp at the Costa del Sol, judolife is good. But just a bit better for the medallists.

The Russian youngsters performed best with 14 medals including four gold medals. Brazil also excelled with five finallists, three of them won gold.

Among the participants strong cadets such as Abrek Naguchev who won gold U66kg and Andarbek Arsunukaev who captured the first place at men’s U60kg. On Sunday the Russian boys also claimed gold U81kg by Gleb Zamkovoi and +90kg by Nodar Onoprienko. But in general Fuengirola was strong with Israel as first winner among young men on Saturday. Yehonatan Veksler took gold U50kg and prevented the first Russian gold. Nijat Mammadli of Azerbaijan confirmed again that U55kg is traditionally a strong Azeri category.

On Sunday Czech strong boy Filip Ivanka defeated strong Azeri Vugar Talibov in the final  U73kg. Italy has Daniel Accogli who captured his second gold medal this season after Follonica last week.

Moldova took the first gold medal among the girls. Paulina Turcan added more success this year after Denis Vieru won the Grand Slam in Paris. Who knows, she might shine there in the future. The Brazilian women took three titles, the first for Laura Soken U44kg. Maria Diniz took gold for Brazil U63kg. Heavyweight Anna Santos showed the potential in the heavyweight category for Brazil capturing gold +70kg.

Raquel Brito, coached by former European medallist Pedro Dias took precious gold for Portugal in the final against Italy’s Chiara Zuccaro showing Brito stepped up to the European top with good coaching and analysis. The category U48kg in the cadets is strong and Brito excelled today in Fuengirola where Dias’ career started 18 years ago.

Ariane Toro Soler finally gave Spain the desired gold medal. Toro Soler won the final U52kg against Portuguese Teresa Santos. On Sunday Samira Bock was able to win the U57kg final against Sara Lisciani. Anna Monta Olek added a second gold for Germany U70kg in the final against Brazilian Luana Carvalho.

Ten countries won gold, four countries won a medal. Russia and Brazil showed potential, Italy is still strong but witnessed some competition. It all makes it an exciting season.