Quality differences at Judo Europeans in Sofia

The European Championships in Sofia will be starting tomorrow with over 361 athletes from 40 nations at the first occasion that the Europeans are held in Bulgaria. Comparable figures to last year in Lisbon but still less than before the pandemic. Sofia is ready for the stars from Europe, let’s zoom into the favourites of some of the weight classes for men.

With seven World Ranking leaders, Europe still shows to be a dominant continent. Four of them are men and those names are expected on the highest podium if they can cope with the pressure.

Denis Vieru of Moldova is the man to count on U66kg but we haven’t really seen the strength of Vazha Margvelashvili since the Olympic Games. He took bronze in Paris, but so far didn’t impress and Vieru seems to be the man to bet on. At Sports Betting Canada you can see who is ready for some powerplay.

Orujov is the nemesis of Shavdatuashvili

Another world ranking leader is the current World Champion and Paris winner Lasha Shavdatuashvili. He will be eager to take a European title as in Lisbon his plan to take a medal failed, but he knew how to peak halfway the year with precious medals. Lasha was European Champion U66kg in 2013, way too long ago and he is poised to win this title. Hidayet Heydarov is on good form, his rival and friend Rustam Orujov is always a candidate for a medal. Mind you, he defeated Shavdatuashvili 9 times, a real nemesis! Keep a close eye on Mark Hristov of Bulgaria who would want to shine in Sofia.

Strong Belgians demand gold

Matthias Casse of Belgium is the next World Ranking leader in his class U81kg but there is plenty of competition with a strong field including his countryman Sami Chouchi. Casse won the European (Games) title in 2019 and lost to Vedat Albayrak who would want to defend his title again. He lost the final in Antalya but he is a nasty man to catch. Tato Grigalashvili became European Champion in Prague in 2020 and want to regain that title. It’s a strong field with Frank de Wit, Sagi Muki and Olympic medallist Shamil Borchashvili.

The lightweights might not have the top seeds in the world rankings but it’s a great class to follow with a Ukrainian number one seed: Artem Lesiuk. We hope he will have some extra power to show his best in Sofia but the fied is really open. Of course Lukhumi Chkhvimiani the former world and European Champion is our favourite. Francisco Garrigos is not on form but can do it all of a sudden. Yanislav Gerchev could be a sensation but it’s really a lottery who can win this one.

Impressive Azerbaijan men’s team

Azerbaijan have a strong team in Sofia and Mammadali Mehdiyev seems to have good cards for the European title if he can keep his head cool. Krsiztian Toth, Misha Zgank, Luka Maisuradze are always keen and capable of winning a medal. Dutchmen Noël van ‘t End and Jesper Smink are outsiders as well as Nemanja Majdov. Interesting to follow are a few guys who stepped up from the U81kg division such as Christian Parlati, Anri Egutidze and Ivaylo Ivanov, the home favourite. They have the height, the experience, but have they got the power to adjust 9 kgs up?

The fourth World Ranking leader is by far the top favourite and never won a European title: Jorge Fonseca. He is undefeated in 2022 and won the Grand Prix in Portugal, European Open in Prague and captured the gold in Antalya and all with impressive and attractive judo. It’s about timing and the time it’s his turn for a another big title. What an amazing category though where you get nothing for free. Don’t forget that the competition in Sofia is much stronger than so far in all Fonseca’s tournaments this year. Ilia Sulamanidze and perhaps Varlam Liparteliani are hungry to win. Peter Paltchik has the reputation and may have to fight Simeon Catharina. There are some old foxes like Asley Gonzalez who makes his debut at the European, for Romania this time. Elmar Gasimov, Michael Korrel, Aleksandar Kukolj and not even seeded, Nikoloz Sherazadishvili from Spain. That’s gonna be exciting to follow. Fonseca might meet with Gonzalez in his pool as numbers 1 and 9 seed.

Georgia poised to win gold

The heavyweight category has one clear favourite in Georgia’s Guram Tushishvili. Although he is not the heaviest, which is a trend anyway. So we estimate that the more athletic type of heavyweights will be on the podium. Iakiv Khammo of Ukraine is not a lightweight but a real decision maker, Richard Sipocz has matured and may do it here in this field and in the pool with Khammo, a nice battle. Roy Meyer is back after his lost Europeans last year in Lisbon and in the pool with Tushishvili. If Ushangi Kokuari performs well, he might be opposed to Tushishvili which is a repetition of the World Championships final in 2018. In fact both are Georgians, but Kokuari switched to Azerbaijan almost ten years ago.