Amazing fast finishes at Cadet Europeans in Riga

We have probably never seen such as fast five finals at Cadet level. It was an amazing demonstration of the cadets in Riga in contrary to the slow finals at the recent Olympic Games. It was super attractive to see, this is judo, but we know at senior level, they cannot be as wild as at this championships, but it is certainly highly appealing and what is judo all about, great promotion of the sport that will need to gear up fast

Georgians always have a choice when it come to heavyweight categories but today’s U81kg was perfect for Aleksandre Loladze (GEO) who won the U81kg category in Riga. In the final he defeated Jason Okoye of France in 24 second with a fast strangle. It looked like the cadets wanted to improve the Olympic level of their seniors with amazing fast finals in all categories.Ilia Musatov (RUS) and Miljan Radulj (SRB) picked up a bronze medal in this weight division. It was only the first and only gold medal for Georgia this championships. Loladze is the third Cadet European Champion U81kg in the history of 19 gold medallist for Georgia.

In the category U90kg it was  Ruslan Somenko (RUS) who claimed the gold medal in his final against  Italian Francesco Basso. Somenko really destroyed Basso in his final and stood out today. He needed only 5 seconds for a shoulder throw to let Basso just think where he was standing 5 seconds ago. A super fast drop seoi nage with huge rotation and blew away the Italian. Archil Mamulashvili (GEO) and Ilman Nesirkoyev (BEL) took bronze. Russia have collected 89 Cadet European titles in history in this century, can you imagine their dominance at this age level.

Denis Batchaev (RUS) met his countryman Vladislav Dorofeev (RUS) in the final +90kg. Batchaev is not a typical heavyweight, he is too slim for that, too fast and he will likely be a U100kg judoka. His final was fast against Dorofeev who tried to catch Batchaev but was taken over perfectly in the first attack of the final in 6 seconds. He planted Dorofeev on his back with great speed. Two Russians where Batchaev showed his best but will have his hands full on getting the connection with junior level given the competition in his country and in Europe. Saba Kardava (GEO) and Tomas Raska (CZE) took the bronze heavyweight medals.

Finals for Young women

Ukrainian Yelyzaveta Lytvynenko showed real quality and was the standout in her division. In the final she defeated Germany’s Eva Ronja Buddenkotte with a brilliant combination. A fingerlicking twitch, a leg around the back of Buddenkotte barried her opponent with a fast tani otoshi. The throw was beautifully executed with no chance for Buddenkotte who went down in 24 seconds. Lytvynenko is ready for the Juniors and really showed mature judo and showed to be ready to junior level with a class act. Ingrid Nilsson (SWE) and Elena Dengg (AUT) took the bronze medals, anotfher medal for Sweden. The Ukraine has 15 Cadet European Champions, nine of them are female and Lytvynenko is the first girl to win U70kg.

Belgian Rachel Rammant needed three minutes to overcome Yuli Alma Mishiner (ISR) in the final with a strangle after an uchimata attack. She locked her opponent quickly for  strangle. Jovana Stjepanovic (SRB) and Alexandra Riabchenko (RUS) won the bronze. She is the second Belgian ever to take the Cadet European title after Alessia Corrao in 2019.

Russia took five gold medals, two more than Azerbaijan that dominated the first day. Israel captured two titles and six countries won one title, which is a great distribution at cadet level