France entered the cadet mixed team event in Sofia as the top seed and the only European nation among the top four seeds on the draw sheet. Expectations were high but the road was far from smooth. Their opening opponent was none other than Uzbekistan, the nation that had just topped the medal table during the individual events.
The clash was tense. Audren Guenneugues managed to secure a valuable point for France but Uzbekistan’s momentum was unstoppable. The duel ended 4:1, and with it, France’s journey came to a sudden halt.
Elsewhere, Poland, Azerbaijan, and Team IJF advanced to the quarter-finals, only to be stopped on opposite sides of the draw. That set up the repechage battles: Poland vs Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan vs IJF. Both matches finished 4:2, sending Poland through to face Mongolia for bronze and IJF up against Brazil.
Bronze Medal Match: Poland vs Mongolia
Poland came out firing. Roksana Zys (+63kg) and Dawid Kaminski (+81kg) delivered confident wins, and then Barbara Twarowska (-48kg) stunned Mongolia’s Misheel Altanshagai with a spectacular ippon midway through the bout. That gave Poland a commanding 3:0 lead.
With the pressure mounting, Tegsh-Ochir Narmandakh (MGL) stepped up against Jakub Muniz Acosta (POL) in the -60kg contest. Within just 11 seconds, the Polish fighter scored yuko. Two minutes later, he sealed it with a crisp sumi-gaeshi for ippon.
Having not fielded a team in recent editions, Poland made a triumphant appearance and wrote a new chapter in their history: mixed team world bronze medallists in 2025.
Bronze Medal Match: IJF vs Brazil
On the neighbouring mat, it was a nail-biter. The scoreboard ticked back and forth until it was deadlocked at 3:3, every women’s contest went to Brazil, every men’s contest to IJF. That meant a draw for the decider. The screen flashed: +81kg. A rematch. Denis Kuligin (IJF) vs Cesar de Godoy Tristante (BRA). Once again, Kuligin left nothing to chance. At 1:20, he locked into a ne-waza exchange, secured a juji-gatame, and forced the tap. Team IJF celebrated their bronze in style.
The gold medal bout was an all-Asian affair: Japan vs Uzbekistan. Both teams had been flawless all day, but in the end, Japan’s depth and sharpness carried them through to claim the title.
That concludes the 2025 Cadet World Championships but the judo spotlight doesn’t dim for long, next up, Europe’s best juniors take to the tatami in Bratislava, Slovakia between 4-7 September.
Images: IJF/ Gabriela Sabau and Emanuele Di Feliciantonio
Author: Szandra Szogedi