The final day of the Junior European Judo Championships 2025 had everything: first-time appearances, historic medals, fierce bronze battles, and a golden French comeback on the team stage. Last year’s winner, Azerbaijan, left without a medal.
Slovakia and Switzerland Step Into the Spotlight
It wasn’t only host nation Slovakia making their debut in the mixed team event, Switzerland also lined up for the very first time. While Slovakia finished with a creditable 7th place, the Swiss went even further, storming through to the semi-finals and proving they hadn’t come just to test themselves, but to challenge the best.
Switzerland opened their campaign with a 4:2 win over Greece before repeating the same scoreline against Azerbaijan. Their run was halted in the semi-final by Türkiye, who powered through with yet another trademark 4:2 victory.
That left Switzerland with one more shot at history, the bronze medal match against Romania. With the score 3:2 in Switzerland’s favour, all eyes fell on David Gliga (ROU) who faced enormous pressure against Thien Oulevey. In the final minute, Oulevey locked Gliga into ne-waza and held firm for twenty seconds. As the referee signalled victory, the Swiss bench erupted. Switzerland had secured their first-ever team event medal in history.
Dominique Hischier, Swiss Technical Director and head coach for both juniors and seniors, was overcome with pride: “It’s a great day for us and for Swiss judo. We had no expectations coming in, we just asked the boys and girls to fight free, round by round. After the disappointment of the semi-final, we were worried about motivation but they fought hard and made history. We hope this medal shows that Switzerland is working at a high level and inspires even more athletes to aim for success. Today was certainly an eye opening towards potentially building our teams for more events like this.”
Germany Battles to Bronze
On the adjoining mat, Team Germany took on Azerbaijan for the second bronze medal. The contest mirrored Switzerland’s showdown, tight, tense, and decided in the final bout. With Germany leading 3:2, Paul Friedrichs stepped in against Suleyman Shukurov. Friedrichs struck early with a waza-ari and controlled the remainder of the contest despite Shukurov’s late surge. As the clock ran out, Germany sealed their bronze, adding another podium finish to their strong mixed team tradition.
Women’s junior head coach, Udo Quellmalz praised his team: “Everyone had their share, everyone gave their heart. Even with an injury and athletes stepping into different weight classes, the team fought with spirit. In team events, rankings on paper don’t always matter, what matters is heart. This medal proves that, we defeated Azerbaijan, IJF and Georgia.”
France Back on Top
The final brought together two giants: France and Türkiye. France had endured a rough year in team events, missing out on the podium at both the senior Europeans and Worlds, but in Bratislava, the juniors stepped up in style, from a silver 2024 finish to a victorious end in 2025.
Celia Cancan set the tone in the opening +70kg contest, overwhelming Türkiye’s Ceylan Kocabey with rapid attacks and securing victory inside a minute. Though Türkiye’s Ibrahim Tataroglu struck back against Kevin Nzuzi Diasivi, that was the only score his team would collect. France’s Emma Melis, Dayyan Boulemtafes, and Teophila Darbes-Takam delivered three consecutive wins, wrapping up a dominant 4:1 triumph and the junior European mixed team title.
Although Türkiye had to settle for second place, coach Sinan Sandal was satisfied with his team’s performance: “I feel it is perfect, because this has been a very difficult championship for our team. To reach the final and take a medal is a very, very good result for us. Now, I hope at the World Championships we can go one step further and take gold. I trust my team.”
Newly appointed junior women’s team coach Pénélope Bonna, herself a former French elite judoka, was thrilled: “It’s a very good medal, and my first as a junior coach. I love this team, and I love this job. This victory is not only important for today but also for the World Championships in Lima. It shows we are on the right path.”
With France celebrating gold, Türkiye claiming silver, Germany carrying traditions and Switzerland making history with bronze, the mixed team event provided a fitting finale to an exciting week in Bratislava. That wraps up the Junior European Championships 2025. Full results are available on judoTV.com as well as on our website, along with an extensive photo gallery capturing over a thousand moments from the week.
As Bratislava packs up after a successful hosting, Podgorica has already begun drawing up its plans for the 2026 Junior Europeans.
See you in Podgorica!
Images: Gabi Juan/Carlos Ferreira
Author: Szandra Szogedi