Author: Mario Krvavac
Poreč is welcoming the European cadet judo elite again this year. More than 750 competitors from 30 countries will compete for medals at the Poreč ‘Millennium Team’ Cadet European Cup 2026, which will be held on February 28th and March 1st in the Poreč Žatika Hall. So far, 763 competitors from 30 countries have registered for this year’s European Cup, making it one of the largest cadet competitions in Europe. According to the registrations, the most numerous national teams are Croatia with 112 competitors (72 men, 40 women), Italy with 109, Israel with 85, Serbia with 66 and Austria with 44 participants.
“From our coaching perspective, Poreč is actually the most important competition in the entire World Judo Tour season. It gives a large number of our athletes the opportunity to compete in such a large and important competition and it gives us coaches an insight into what potential we have. Apart from being our most important competition, it is definitely our favorite because our young athletes have the opportunity to perform in front of the home crowd and fans” – announced the competition by the cadet national team coach, Matija Frlić.
As the host, Croatia is participating with a record number of cadets, all with the ambition of building on last year’s results, when Ana Bešker and Antea Ajduković won bronze medals in Poreč.
“It is always thankless in the cadet age to predict which names will achieve great results. In this initial part of the season, in the first two months, Marko Vujica from JK Samobor has definitely stood out the most among all the cadets, having won two medals at two European Cup competitions and two gold medals at the African Cup in Casablanca, so Marko shows that he is in excellent shape and that we can expect very good results from him this season.” – added Frlić.
The competition will be officially opened on Saturday, February 28th , at 3:00 PM in the Žatika Hall, so that future European judo stars can seek their way to medals over two days of competition in all Olympic categories. Immediately after the competition, from March 2nd to 4th , Poreč will also become the center of European cadet preparation. EJU is organising a three-day training camp on more than 1,500 m² of tatami, which will provide young judoka with a unique opportunity for joint training and development in an international environment.
“Working with the cadet national team is always a great challenge for me as a coach but also a great joy. The cadets are in a developmental phase in which we introduce them to the world of top-level sport. They are part of the national team for the first time, they go to major international competitions and training camps with the national team and all of this serves to monitor their reactions to the challenges we put before them and analyse what potential we have for the future.” – coach Frlić concluded the announcement.
Poreč thus once again confirms its status as one of the most desirable destinations for European cadet judo, both on the tatami and in tourism.
Author: EJU Media