The second day of the European Judo Championships Juniors Tallinn 2024 will feature all the action from the women’s -63kg / -70kg and men’s -73kg / -81kg categories. Not only will some of the reigning champions showcase their talents on the field of play but we will also see the appearance of an athlete directly from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Ladies first. In the -63kg category, current junior world champion Melkia Auchecorne (FRA) will be competing. Needless to stress, she is the top-ranked competitor in the division, so the only question is ‘who dares to stop her’? Sinem Oruc (TUR) 2023 cadet European champion is landing straight from Lima to Tallinn on a high, having won a bronze medal at the cadet world championships less than a week ago. Nina Simic (CRO), 2023 junior world bronze medallist will be looking for a golden moment alongside Sara Corbo (ITA) as the pair will be the second and third seed respectively.
The -70kg category will bring the house down on day two as now Paris 2024 Olympian, Tais Pina (POR) is on the list of entries and she is unseeded. She will have a few perhaps less experience but equally hungry for success opponents to overcome, such as the reigning and the former cadet European champion, precisely, Alessandra Andric (SRB) and Tuna Gulaney (TUR). Also in the mix are Elena Dengg (AUT), junior world bronze medallist in 2023 and April Lynn Fohouo (SUI) who will enjoy the privilege of being the top seed in the category. As Pina has been extremely busy with the senior agenda, she may end up facing unfamiliar opponents and sometimes the opponent you know is more comfortable to face than the unknown. All eyes will be on the Portuguese judoka to deliver.
Well decorated Vusal Galandarzade (AZE) will be looking for redemption after finishing third at the junior European Championships in 2023, having won the title in 2022. The reigning junior world champion is destined to dominate the -73kg category with only a handful of fighters such as Giorgi Loladze (GEO) and Mouhammad Gazaloev (BEL) likely to get in his way. The latter won bronze at the junior World Championships in 2023. The -81kg category also promises to be consistent with Igor Tsurkan (UKR), junior European silver medallist in 2023 and Aleksandre Loladze (GEO), junior world silver medallist in 2023 dominating the world ranking. Meanwhile, Boris Rutovic (SRB) 2023 cadet European champion will look to establish himself amongst the juniors.
The second day of the event is scheduled to start at 10:00am local time (GMT +2). Follow all the action live online at judotv.com.
Author: Szandra Szogedi