With just a handful of days remaining, the final fine-tuning is in full swing as athletes sharpen their form ahead of the Senior European Judo Championships Tbilisi 2026. As the countdown intensifies, so too does our preview series. Today, we turn the spotlight on the women’s -63kg and men’s -81kg categories.
-63kg category
The -63kg category in Tbilisi is shaping into a collision of pedigree, pressure and possibility. An Olympic medallist leads the charge, with Paris bronze medallist Laura Fazliu (KOS) stepping onto the tatami as one of the division’s most dangerous contenders. Standing in her path is 2024 world champion, top seed, Joanne van Lieshout (NED), a judoka who has already proven she can rise on the biggest stage.
Then there is the defending European champion, Renata Zachová (CZE), returning with the weight of expectation after her golden run in 2024 and 2025. For years, this category bore the imprint of five-time European champion Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA) and Slovenians, however, with the French icon absent, the throne stands momentarily unguarded and the contenders are circling.
Tbilisi will welcome back much of last year’s podium: Zachová, van Lieshout and Carlotta Avanzato (ITA) all return, most with unfinished business. Add to that three of the world’s top ten, van Lieshout (#2), Iva Oberan (CRO, #3) and Manon Deketer (FRA, #8) and the depth becomes impossible to ignore.
History offers little comfort to the home crowd. The last time a host nation claimed this title was in 2014, when Agbegnenou triumphed in Montpellier. In Georgia, a home victory in this weight seems a distant prospect but in a category this volatile, certainty is a fragile thing.
On paper, the narrative points towards a three-way battle: Zachová, Fazliu and van Lieshout. Yet their recent head-to-head record only deepens the intrigue.
Van Lieshout vs Fazliu 1–0
Fazliu vs Zachová 4–2
Zachová vs van Lieshout 3–1
A perfect triangle and no clear favourite. Adding further tension, Zachová enters unseeded, meaning the defending champion could be thrown into a defining contest from the very first round. In a division already brimming with quality, that single detail could reshape the entire draw.
Meanwhile, waiting in the wings are names more than capable of rewriting the script: Paris Olympic fifth-place finisher Lubjana Piovesana (AUT), two-time European medallist Gili Sharir (ISR) as well as 2024 world silver medallist and 2023 European bronze medallist Angelika Szymańska (POL).
Four medals. One unforgiving category. Countless contenders. On 17 April, the -63kg division will not just crown a champion, it will demand one.
European champions of the past 10 years in the -63kg weight category
2016, Kazan (RUS): Tina Trstenjak (SLO)
2017, Warsaw (POL): Tina Trstenjak (SLO)
2018, Tel-Aviv (ISR): Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA)
2019, Minsk (BLR): Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA)
2020, Prague (CZE): Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA)
2021, Lisbon (POR): Tina Trstenjak (SLO)
2022, Sofia (BUL): Gemma Howell (GBR)
2023, Montpellier (FRA): Andreja Leski (SLO)
2024, Zagreb (CRO): Renata Zachová (CZE)
2025, Podgorica (MNE): Renata Zachová (CZE)
-81kg category
If there is one category that understands pressure and truly lives it, its the -81kg division. Rivalry is not just a word here; it is the foundation. Few weight categories can match its intensity, its history, its sheer competitive fire.
Two Olympic medallists headline the field: Paris 2024 silver medallist Tato Grigalashvili (GEO) and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Matthias Casse (BEL). Between them, they carry not only medals but expectation, particularly Grigalashvili, stepping onto home soil with the weight of a nation behind him.
The depth does not stop there. Three world champions will take to the tatami: the three-time reigning king Grigalashvili (2022, 2023, 2024), Casse (2021), and the current title holder Timur Arbuzov (RUS, 2025). Each arrives with serious credentials.
Arbuzov returns as the defending European champion, yet history in this category is shared among giants. Grigalashvili is a three-time European champion (2020, 2022, 2024), Vedat Albayrak (TUR) has claimed the crown twice (2021, 2023), and Casse lifted the title in 2019. Proven winners, all converging once more.
Last year’s podium reads like a roll call of elite rivalry: Arbuzov (gold), Grigalashvili (silver), and bronze medallists Casse and Zelim Tckaev (AZE) will all return to Tbilisi, each with a score to settle. Once again, the same names keep repeating…
The rankings only reinforce the narrative. Six of the world’s top ten are present: Arbuzov (#1), Grigalashvili (#3), Tckaev (#5), Albayrak (#8), Casse (#9), and Omar Rajabli (AZE, #10). At the summit, the competition is relentless, every contest a final in disguise.
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Yet, as ever in judo, danger does not only come from the established names. Keep a close eye on Mihajlo Simin (SRB), the 2025 junior European Champion and junior world bronze medallist. The young Serbian has already claimed Grand Prix gold in Lima 2025 and added two IJF World Tour bronze medals this season. He is not here to observe, he is here to disrupt.
When the -81kg category unfolds on 18 April, the tension will be tangible, sharp enough to cut through the arena. In this division, nothing is given. Everything is taken.
European champions of the past 10 years in the -81kg weight category
2016, Kazan (RUS): Khasan Khalmurzaev (RUS)
2017, Warsaw (POL): Alan Khubetsov (RUS)
2018, Tel-Aviv (ISR): Sagi Muki (ISR)
2019, Minsk (BLR): Matthias Casse (BEL)
2020, Prague (CZE): Tato Grigalashvili (GEO)
2021, Lisbon (POR): Vedat Albayrak (TUR)
2022, Sofia (BUL): Tato Grigalashvili (GEO)
2023, Montpellier (FRA): Vedat Albayrak (TUR)
2024, Zagreb (CRO): Tato Grigalashvili (GEO)
2025, Podgorica (MNE): Timur Arbuzov (RUS)
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Author: EJU Media