During the European Youth Olympic Festival 2025, Serbia finished second on the medal table for the individual event, before conquering all to take the gold medal in the Mixed Team event. To say it was a spectacular performance from them would be an understatement, and the coaching staff were exceedingly proud of how they represented both themselves and their team.
Djordje TOMIC was overcome with pride finishing the event, and now looking forward to the Cadet World Championships, he hopes they take the same spirit with them,
I am very proud and satisfied with the performance of our team at EYOF and the European Championships, but I believe that the World Championships is a completely different level and that the boys and girls will have to put in a little more effort in order to achieve similar results.
I usually don’t like forecasting and announcing great results, so I won’t do it this time either, one thing is certain, and that is that our young judokas will give their maximum effort, as they have done in previous performances.
Predictions in judo is almost a fools errand, the sport being notorious for devastating early exist and the rise of the underdog, even at Olympic level! However there is something to say about ranking…
Of course, we also have in our ranks those who stand out from the rest in terms of their results, including Veljko VARNICIC, the first in the world ranking in -73 kg, who has only one defeat this year and is a double Champion both at EYOF and at the European Championships, and in the EYOF Mixed Team event, he defeated all opponents from the -81 kg category. Among the -81kg fighters, he defeated European Champion, Giorgi MUMLADZE.
After Veljko, there is Boris JANKOVIC, also World No. 1 in -66kg, who excelled at EYOF by winning gold, and the bronze was at the previous World Championship in Lima in 2024. It is a pity that our favourites will not be strengthened by Aleksandra ANDRIC’s senior bronze from this year’s European Championship in the -70kg category. Who finished her performance in the cadet competition EYOF and now focuses on the junior and senior tournaments.
The Cadet World Championships will see 582 athletes from 74 nations, taking place from the 27th to 30th of August. This is when Serbia will take their leave.
All in all, we can’t wait for the competition in Sofia, where we will perform with 17 competitors in the individual competition. It’s a shame that we won’t do the Mix Team this time, but we hope for at least 2 medals in the individual competition.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen