Day two of the upcoming European Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, from 16-19 April brings the women’s -57kg and -63kg categories alongside the men’s -73kg category, with Georgian interest running especially high in the -57kg and -73kg events.
-57kgs
All eyes will be on the -57kg competition in the Georgian capital, where hometown favourite and Georgia’s first female world judo champion, Eteri Liparteliani, steps onto the tatami backed by an adoring, and expectant, crowd. With defending European champion Seija Ballhaus absent, Liparteliani arrives as the top seed in a weight that has seen remarkable turnover: a different champion has been crowned each year for the past decade.
Liparteliani’s continental resume is already impressive, with European titles at the cadet, junior, U23 and open levels. The senior individual crown, however, remains the missing piece.
She came close in 2025, finishing runner-up, and now, competing on home soil, has a prime opportunity to complete the set and add another chapter to Georgian judo history. The last home victory in this weight category came in 2021, when Telma Monteiro triumphed in Lisbon.
Her path, however, will not be easy. Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist Sarah-Léonie Cysique looms as a major threat. The French judoka and recent Paris Grand Slam champion holds a commanding 9–1 head-to-head advantage over Liparteliani across their ten meetings, although their most recent encounter, in Tokyo at the end of 2025, went the Georgian’s way, offering a timely boost of confidence.
Another key contender is Israel’s Timna Nelson Levy, the 2022 European champion and a seasoned presence on the circuit. Now 31, she brings a wealth of experience, with a full set of European Championship medals, and this event marks her tenth appearance at the senior level. Fresh from victory at the 2026 Tbilisi Grand Slam, she has warmed up the tatami for more success.
Several of last year’s European medallists return as well, including bronze winners Veronica Toniolo (ITA) and Martha Fawaz (FRA). With five of the world’s top ten-ranked athletes set to compete, who knows which way this category’s crown will fall.
–57kg Gold medalists of the past ten years:
2016, Kazan (RUS): Automne Pavia (FRA)
2017, Warsaw (POL): Priscilla Gneto (FRA)
2018, Tel Aviv (ISR): Nora Gjakova (KOS)
2019, Minsk (BLR): Daria Mezhetskaia (RUS)
2020, Prague (CZE): Hedvig Karakas (HUN)
2021, Lisbon (POR): Telma Monteiro (POR)
2022, Sofia (BUL): Timna Nelson Levy (ISR)
2023, Montpellier (FRA): Daria Kurbonmamadova (RUS)
2024, Zagreb (CRO): Daria Bilodid (UKR)
2025, Podgorica (MNE): Seija Ballhaus (GER)
-73kgs
The men’s -73kg category promises more high-calibre matchups, bringing together Olympic champions, world champions and nearly too many European medals to count.
Four Olympic medallists headline the category. Georgia’s Lasha Shavdatuashvili, still a dominant force at 34, boasts the only complete Olympic set, gold in London 2012, bronze in Rio 2016 and silver in Tokyo 2020.
Few can match the experience of Shavdatuashvili. Competing in his 14th senior European Championships, he first appeared at the event in 2012 and claimed his maiden title a year later. Since then, he has added two silver and two bronze medals.
A compelling generational clash could see defending European champion Danil Lavrentev face the Georgian veteran. The 22-year-old Russian leads their head-to-head 2–1, with their rivalry already spanning multiple European Championships. Shavdatuashvili prevailed in Montpellier in 2023, before Lavrentev responded with victory in Zagreb in 2024.
To make matters even more difficult, they are joined by the entire -73kgs Paris 2024 Olympic podium: Olympic champion Hidayat Heydarov of Azerbaijan, silver medallist Joan-Benjamin Gaba of France, and Moldova’s Adil Osmanov, who claimed bronze.
Gaba, the reigning world champion, arrives as the top seed. The Frenchman has proven his ability to deliver on the biggest stage, yet he is still searching for a return to the podium since securing his world title. He has faced Heydarov just once, in the Olympic final, while holding a win over Osmanov and a narrowly negative head-to-head against Shavdatuashvili at 4–3.
Heydarov, a four-time European champion, dominated the category during a flawless 2024 campaign that brought him European, world and Olympic gold. Since then, however, he has yet to fully rediscover that same level of consistency.
There is no shortage of additional contenders. Kosovo’s Akil Gjakova, a former European champion, adds further strength, while Italy’s Manuel Lombardo, a two-time world silver medallist and 2021 European champion, remains a dangerous and unpredictable opponent capable of disrupting any draw.
Gold medalists of the past ten years:
2016, Kazan (RUS): Rustam Orujov (AZE)
2017, Warsaw (POL): Hidayat Heydarov (AZE)
2018, Tel Aviv (ISR): Ferdinand Karapetian (ARM)
2019, Minsk (BLR): Tommy Macias (SWE)
2020, Prague (CZE): Victor Sterpu (MDA)
2021, Lisbon (POR): Akil Gjakova (KOS)
2022, Sofia (BUL): Hidayat Heydarov (AZE)
2023, Montpellier (FRA): Hidayat Heydarov (AZE)
2024, Zagreb (CRO): Hidayat Heydarov (AZE)
2025, Podgorica (MNE): Danil Lavrentev (RUS)
Author: Grace Goulding