Serbia grabs two European Junior titles at last day in Tallinn

The final day of individual competition at the European Judo Championships Juniors Tallinn 2024 saw an impressive display of skill, with Serbian judoka dominating the spotlight. Despite their outstanding performances, Azerbaijan managed to retain the top spot on the overall medal table, followed by Serbia and France.

In a dramatic men's competition, Aslan Kotsoev of Azerbaijan, unseeded, stunned with his combination of tachi-waza and ne-waza, defeating top-seed Oleksii Boldyriev (SLO) on his way to the final. However, in a thrilling golden score match, Kotsoev lost to Serbia's Milan Radulj, who, despite minimal preparation, showed exceptional skill and tenacity.

Milan Bulaja (SRB) also had a remarkable performance, defeating Joes Schell (NED) and then Estonia's Jakob Vares in the final. Bulaja's powerful ne-waza and osae-komi-waza techniques ensured another gold medal for Serbia, much to the delight of the Serbian team and supporters.

Turkey's Ibrahim Tataroglu, fresh from competing at the Paris Olympics, proved his experience by dominating his matches. His final showdown against Davit Kevlishvili (ESP) was a challenging one, but Tataroglu's experience shone through, ending the contest with a decisive maki-komi and ne-waza combination.

On the women's side, expectations were high for an all-German final between Eva Ronja Buddenkotte and Mathilda Sophie Niemeyer, but it was Lila Mazzarino (FRA) and Jovana Stjepanovic (SRB) who reached the final. Mazzarino's uchi-mata and counters secured France's first gold of the event, defeating Stjepanovic.

In the cadet division, Emma-Melis Aktas (EST), fresh from winning a bronze at the World Cadet Championships in Lima, reached the final but was outshone by Celia Cancan (FRA). Cancan, a seasoned cadet and European medalist, finally claimed gold with her signature ouchi-gari, breaking her streak of losses in finals and adding another title to France's tally.