Alexandr Kolesnik defeats Tim Gramkow in Cadet European final U73kg

Top seed Alexander Kolesnik from Russia was not to be beaten and demonstrated his strength also in the U73kg final against Tim Gramkow (GER). Both players showed some good actions, but nobody scored. Then Gramkow marked a yuko with 1.58 minutes to go. Unfazed, Kolesnik reacted and threw the German for waza-ari just seconds later. Just ten seconds after that, Kolesnik achieved Ippon with another throw.

“I am very happy and proud for my country”, Kolesnik said. “The last match was the hardest, because it was the final and I was very nervous. I competed in my first European Championship after all. But Judo is my thing and I do it quite well”, he explained. Kolesnik named Russian Olympic Champions Arsen Galstyan and Tagir Khabulaev as his idols. “Winning here gave me a lot of experience and it bodes well for the future. One day, I also want to become Olympic Champion”, the Russian concluded.                             

Gramkow was satisfied to come off with the silver medal. “I was fifth last year and the year before, so I am very pleased to finally have a medal. Up to the final the day was ideal. I think overall I had fought five minutes, I ended all matches ahead of time. But Kolesnik in the final made it really hard for me and he deserved to win today”, the German commented.                     

Martin Hojak (SLO) earned the bronze medal over Nikita Duinovs (LAT) and Nicolas Chilard (FRA) took the other bronze, defeating Leonardo Casaglia (ITA).                     

34 athletes competed in this category. 

The five gold medals on the second day of the European Cadet Judo Championships 2014 in Athens, Greece, went to Germany, Azerbaijan, Russia and Slovenia. Russia now tops the medal table with a total of two gold, two silver and two bronze medals. France dropped to second with two gold, one silver and three bronze medals so far. Germany caught up in the medal standings by picking up two gold, one silver and one bronze medal today in addition to the lone bronze medal from Friday.