Athletes representing Türkiye, Poland, and the International Judo Federation each claimed a gold medal across the three girls’ weight categories contested on the opening day of the Millennium Team European Judo Championships Cadets Skopje 2025.
Double Turkish Delight
The final block kicked off with the -40kg category. A lively field of 12 judoka battled it out for the top spot. Türkiye had already secured the first gold of the day by the end of the preliminaries, with an all-Turkish final set between Yagmur Yilmazturk and Sema Nur Yuksel. As anticipated, the contest went to golden score, and in a tense faceoff, decided by a single penalty, it was Nur Yuksel who emerged victorious.
Following her final contest of the day, Nur Yuksel shared her emotions: “Winning the gold medal is a different feeling. Türkiye had not received a gold medal for a long time. I hope this will continue without ending. To become the champion, I had to face my friend. On one hand, it is a great feeling to bring Türkiye both a final and with that a gold and silver medal. But frankly, not having my coach behind me made me a little sad. But no matter what the results are, friendship is within the flag so overall I am thankful that the gold and silver medals went to Türkiye.” Bronze medallists of the category are Fenne Peeters (BEL) and Emiliia Saifutdinova (IJF).
Mishenkina: “It’s all in the bag.”
The -44kg final featured second seed Nadezhda Mishenkina (IJF) against unseeded Livanur Kayir (TUR). For Kayir, reaching the final was already a triumph in itself but she didn’t stop there. She pushed her opponent all the way, keeping the contest level until the final minute, when Mishenkina seized an opportunity on the ground and secured victory with an osae-komi-waza. Beaming with joy, Mishenkina shared her thoughts after the final:
“Well, it was a hard day today but I did it. The most important thing is to overcome your fear and then, as they say, it’s all in the bag. I would really like to say hello to my parents, relatives, friends. I am very grateful that they supported me. For me personally, the final was the most difficult, because I had met the girl from Turkiye more than once, and she was familiar to me, she knew me, and I knew her, than with other opponents from Romania, and other countries, we knew each other, and that’s why it was more difficult to fight today.” Bronze medal winners of the category are Gulshan Huseynova (AZE) and Sandra Walendzik (POL).
Finally Gold
Barbara Twarowska (POL) took silver at the 2024 Cadet European Championships, and ever since, she has been determined to return and claim the top spot on the podium. This year, she did just that, overcoming Narmin Aghamirzazade (AZE) as her final hurdle of the day. Filled with joy and disbelief, she said:
“Yes, now I am the champion, I have the gold medal! I am so happy because last year I won silver, and I lost in the final seconds when my opponent threw me. Now, I am so happy because I am not second, I am first! It’s just so cute… [she pauses] I… I can’t even find the right words.
“My hardest fight was the second one, because it went into golden score, so it was physically exhausting, but mentally, I think the semi-final was the toughest, because it was the last step before reaching the final and fighting for gold.
“It’s been a perfect day, although I injured my knee during the semi-final, and I was really scared in the final thinking, ‘Oh no, my knee!’, but in the end, everything went well, and I won today. I will celebrate my success with my family, well, part of my family. I have eight siblings, so only a few of them are here with me.” Bronze medal celebratitons went to Aiora Martin Carriches (ESP) and Leyla Alakbarova (AZE).
Images: Gabi Juan / Carlos Ferreira
Author: Szandra Szogedi