It is with sadness that the judo family was informed of the passing of a true legend of Croatian judo, Željko ĐAPIĆ (31st January 1955 – 13th August 2022). Željko Đapić was not only an expert, he was also a passionate person who could be counted on to advance the…
13 August 2022Guayaquil World Juniors Championships 2022 - Guayaquil, Ecuador
Two of Europe’s returning junior world champions managed to prove their status by making their way to their respective finals. Ai TSUNODA ROUSTANT (ESP) and SAFRANY Peter (HUN) put in wonderful preliminary performances and we were excited to see if they could be knocked from their number one spots or…
13 August 2022Guayaquil World Juniors Championships 2022 - Guayaquil, Ecuador
The competition truly was incredible on the second day, with some unnerving surprises for the top seed Ozlem YILDIZ (TUR), and the -73kg category became a disaster for the top eight. The -57kg category number one seed, Yildiz of Türkiye had a sharp wake up call in her opening round…
12 August 2022Guayaquil World Juniors Championships 2022 - Guayaquil, Ecuador
What an incredible result for the athletes of Europe on the first day of the Junior World Championships 2022. For some, they have travelled over a day to arrive in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and they truly brought their A-game. Last years results reflected massively in todays final block, with three of…
11 August 2022Guayaquil World Juniors Championships 2022 - Guayaquil, Ecuador
As we anticipate the results of the draw this evening, we look at the remaining categories that will compete on day four of the Junior World Championships 2022 in Ecuador. There is an ongoing head to head between Anna Monta OLEK (GER) and Yael VAN HEEMST (NED) in the -78kg…
9 August 2022Guayaquil World Juniors Championships 2022 - Guayaquil, Ecuador
Day three in the Arena Fedeguayas VPP, Guayaquil, will see the -81kg, -70kg and -90kg weight categories compete for the junior world titles. Bright MADDALONI NOSA (ITA) is yet another talent from the Italian team who is leading the charge in the -81kg category and has been seen on the…
8 August 2022Guayaquil World Juniors Championships 2022 - Guayaquil, Ecuador
On the second day of the Junior World Championships 2022 we have the -57kg, -73kg and -63kg categories. In the lighter of the young women’s categories, we have some faces that have demonstrated consistency from their cadet days and even on to the senior circuit more recently. The number one…
7 August 2022Guayaquil World Juniors Championships 2022 - Guayaquil, Ecuador
We are approaching the eve of the Junior World Championships 2022 which will be held in Guayaquil, Ecuador. With seven athletes returning to retain their titles, it will be a tough feat. Many of these junior athletes are already well established on the senior circuit and will be progressing on…
6 August 2022Riga Senior European Cup 2022 - Riga, Latvia
The Latvian Judo Federation put themselves on the organisation map when we were slowly coming out of the pandemic break, they were the first to welcome the cadets back for their prime event of European Championships. Prior to this, we had some Improve Your Club seminars, but this was to…
3 August 2022EYOF - Banska Bistrica, Slovakia
The final balance sheet of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Banská Bystrica (SVK) was truly positive. EJU Head Sport Director and Executive Board Member CATARINA RODRIGUES summarizes five competition days with 297 athletes from 43 countries. It seemed to be the perfect week, with a full stadium and…
30 July 2022EYOF - Banska Bistrica, Slovakia
Today was the last day of judo in the European Youth Olympic Festival 2022, closing off an incredible tournament with the exciting Mixed Teams event. Getting started in the final block, the teams of Georgia and Israel took the bronze medals and left Azerbaijan and Ukraine to battle it out…
30 July 2022Typically the career of a judoka cannot be compared to another. For many the end goal is the Olympic Games, a world or continental championships and usually the path is paved by the federation to help them reach this goal. However on some occasions, we see those still committed to…
30 July 2022EYOF - Banska Bistrica, Slovakia
The Ukrainian team today have managed to battle their way in to the final of the mixed teams event in European Youth Olympic Festival 2022, though it may be unsurprising given their individual performances throughout the week. First to take an individual gold was Stanislav KORCHEMLIUK (-81kg) and next up…
29 July 2022EYOF - Banska Bistrica, Slovakia
The success of the champions today meant that there were big changes in the medal table, though the Netherlands kept their top position at the end of the individual competition, Ukraine and Georgia managed to climb the ranks to finish in the top three. Here is how they did it……
29 July 2022EYOF - Banska Bistrica, Slovakia
-78kg Yelyzaveta LYTVYNENKO (UKR) v Yuli Alma MISHINER (ISR) Number one seed Yelyzaveta LYTVYNENKO (UKR) was storming her category right off the bat, straight to the semi final. The youngster took a 5th place in the Tbilisi Grand Slam and then a bronze in the Madrid European Open just last…
29 July 2022EYOF - Banska Bistrica, Slovakia
Before today, Serbia had already found places on the podium with Mihajlo SIMIN (-73kg) and Nikolina NISAVIC (-52kg) taking silver medals, only just missing out on the EYOF title in their respective weight categories, but today we finally heard the anthem. We caught up with the newly crowned EYOF champion…
28 July 2022EYOF - Banska Bistrica, Slovakia
It is the penultimate day of individual competition in the European Youth Olympic Festival 2022, but we are still gaining momentum it seems. The heavier the athletes get, the bigger the ippons and the more impressed the inexperienced crowds are with this sport. First in the final block they were…
28 July 2022EYOF - Banska Bistrica, Slovakia
Kerem PRIMO (ISR) came in as the number one seed today and given the past year it was with little surprise, not only has she dominated cadet and junior level but she is now placing in grand slams on the IJF tour. The experience alone is giving her an edge…
28 July 2022
Guayaquil World Juniors Championships 2022