Oberwart warming up for European Open with appealing names

Oberwart is gearing up for the European Open this weekend. The Austrian organizers and the first foreign delegations will arrive on Thursday. A total of 3,000 overnight stays can be attributed to the largest judo tournament in Austria this year, 8 hotels are fully booked. 283 athletes from 37 nations have registered for the World Tour event, including 6 Olympic champions. For Lasha Bekauri (GEO/-90) it is also his first appearance since the gold medal in Tokyo last year. With Shirine Boukli (FRA/-48) there is also a current number 1 in the world rankings.

Judo Austria has the largest team with 33 active athletes, six athletes are seeded. Olympic bronze medallist Shamil Borchashvili leads the field of 27 in the category U81kg, Olympic silver medalist Michaela Polleres U70kg is number 2 behind ex-world champion Marie-Eve Gahie (FRA). In the personal head-to-head of the two it is 3:3.

The training camp that follows (September 5th – 8th/104 athletes from 13 nations) is also bursting with big names: 2-time Olympic champion Lukas Krpalek (CZE/+100) will come, as will world number two Matthias Casse (BEL/U81) or World Champion Barbara Matic (CRO/U70). 80 volunteers are ready.

"I'm looking forward to my fourth tournament in Oberwart, I've been eliminated twice early, in 2019 I won the Open. We recently had a break from competition for almost two months, so it's good that we can still contest a competition at a high level before the World Championships," emphasizes Michaela Polleres. “Until now I've only been to the state championships in Oberwart, never to the European Open. It's about time,” says Shamil Borchashvili.

"It's about time that we finally organized a big international tournament again since 2020. The great international interest proves us right,” says ÖJV President Martin Poiger. "Oberwart is a self-confessed sports town, the European Judo Open are now an institution," says Mayor Georg Rosner.

The tournament in Oberwart is being held for the 11th time, for the 9th time as a European Open as part of the European Judo Union Tour. There have been no less than nine domestic winners since 2011. In 2020 Wachid Borchashvili (U81) and Marko Bubanja (U90) won gold, the year before it was Michaela Polleres (-70) and Bernadette Graf (-78).

“We are confident that there will be an anniversary victory this year. Even if the competition is particularly strong this time. Many nations, including us, use the tournament and the subsequent training camp to prepare for the World Cup (Tashkent, October 6th – 13th),” says ÖJV sports director Markus Moser.

Facts and figures

Austria's largest judo tournament is taking place in Oberwart for the 11th time, for the 9th time with the status of a European Open as part of the European Judo Union (EJU) Tour.

283 judoka (99 women/2184 men) from 37 nations entered.

The largest delegation is host Austria with 28 judoka, no less than 6 of them are seeded.

In terms of quantity, the categories for women U57 kg (19 starters) and U70 kg (18) and for men – the categories U66kg (32 athletes) and U73kg (30) and U90 kg (29) are the best.

Judo mixed team Olympic champion France comes with a total of 22 athletes, including five members of the victorious Tokyo team (Shirine Boukli/U48, Sarah-Leonie Cysique/U57, Madeleine Malonga/U78, Romane Dicko/+78; Kilian Le Blouch/U73). Georgia comes with nine men, led by Olympic champion Lasha Bekauri (U90/his first appearance since Tokyo). Judo superpower Japan has a reigning world champion in Sarah Asahina (+78).

The International Federation (IJF) sends the top 30 judges - they complete a final test before the World Championships in Tashkent. On Friday afternoon we go off-road jeep driving as a team building measure.