The curtain has officially fallen on the individual events of the Cadet World Judo Championships Sofia 2025, with Uzbekistan ruling the medal table from start to finish. Their four-day dominance closed with an impressive haul of five gold and two bronze medals. Europe, however, had plenty to celebrate. Across the championship, the continent’s young judoka collected six gold, nine silver, and 21 bronze medals; ten of those arriving on the final day, and fittingly, the last medal ceremony of the individual competition belonged to Europe, and to Georgia in particular.
That moment came courtesy of Ioane Abalaki (GEO), who stormed to victory in the +90kg category after a five-bout winning streak that lit up the arena. He opened his campaign with a sharp ko-uchi-gari against Thomas Van Adrichem (NED), transitioning smoothly into ne-waza to secure an early win. In the round of 16, the Georgian was pushed to the brink by Denis Kuligin (IJF). With little over 20 seconds left, Abalaki produced a dramatic o-soto-gari for waza-ari, snatching his ticket to the quarter-finals.
Against Alibek Durdiev (UZB), the story repeated: Abalaki trailed after conceding a yuko, but stayed alert. When his opponent slowed down during a ne-waza exchange, the Georgian pounced, locking in an osae-komi-waza to turn the contest on its head.
The semi-final against Melichar Skoda (CZE) was pure drama. Skoda struck first, forcing Abalaki to chase. With time running out, it looked like Skoda was on his way to the final, until, once again, eight seconds from the buzzer, Abalaki delivered the decisive waza-ari. Georgia’s young heavyweight was into the final.
There, against Kaito Tokita (JPN), he saved his best for last. Golden score, the pressure at boiling point, and then there it was…, a spectacular sasae-tsurikomi-ashi sent Tokita down. Abalaki roared in triumph, crowned cadet World Champion 2025 in the +90kg division.
Georgia’s joy did not end there. Giorgi Karchaidze joined his teammate on the podium with heavyweight bronze. Meanwhile, Abdula Suleimanov (IJF) claimed -90kg gold, leading an all-European podium with Maksim Strokun (BLR) in silver, and Giorgi Zurabashvili (GEO) alongside Francesco Mazzon (ITA) sharing bronze. On the women’s side, Europe also shone: Diana Benkova (POL) and Keti Robakidze (GEO) both earned -70kg bronze, while in the +70kg division Emma Feuillet–Nguimgo (FRA) took silver and Kristyna Kaszperova (CZE) secured bronze.
The individual battles may be over but the championships isn’t done yet. The grand finale comes tomorrow with the mixed team event, featuring 16 squads ready to fight for glory. Can Europe add more medals to its collection? Tune in live at judoTV.com to witness the final showdown.
Images: IJF/ Gabriela Sabau and Emanuele Di Feliciantonio
Author: Szandra Szogedi