Maxim Latyshev at the European Judo Championship (U-23) at home // Photo: eju.net
Latyshev had four wins before reaching the final – he lost to Miljan Radul (Serbia), Lovre Mrkovic (Croatia) and Vugar Talibov (Azerbaijan). The fourth victory was over Lasse Schriever of Germany in the semifinals and allowed him to fight for the defense of the European title won a year earlier in Poland.
In the final, the 21-year-old Moldovan judoka faced 22-year-old Giorgi Zhabniashvili, who defeated Latyshev in extra time and won the first victory in his career at the continental championship. The bronze medals went to Aslan Kotsoyev (Azerbaijan) and Vojin Mandic (Serbia), who defeated Talibov and Shriver respectively.
Latyshev’s medal was the only one added to the “piggy bank” of the Moldovan national judo team. Vadim Gimbovski, who was considered the favorite before the beginning of the tournament, failed to overcome the first round of the competition in the weight category up to 100 kg.
The best among girls was Alexandra Kiron, who took the fifth place in the competition in the weight category up to 52 kg. She made it to the semifinals, where she lost to Pauline Cook. The Frenchwoman later became the European champion.
In the final team medal standings, the Moldovan national team with one silver medal took 29th place among 37 participating countries. Azerbaijan became the strongest team (two gold, one silver and one bronze medal), Italy became the second (two gold and seven bronze medals), France – the third (one gold, three silver and two bronze medals).
In addition to individual competitions, team competitions were also held within the framework of the championship. The Moldovan team lost to France in the first round with the score 2:4, but got the opportunity to fight for the small final and the bronze medal. Valeriu Duminică’s team defeated Hungary in the additional qualifying round (4:1), but with the score 3:4 lost to Turkey in the small final and took the fifth place. The results of the team competition are not included in the medal standings.
The European Youth Championships were held for the first time in Moldova at the Arena Chișinău. More than 300 athletes and 200 members of sports delegations arrived in Chisinau for three days of competition. Athletes played 20 sets of medals, 14 of them in team competitions. The state budget allocated 6 million lei for the organization of the tournament. Logos Press reported more details about the tournament in the October 31 issue.
