Opening day full of surprises at judo Euros

The biggest shock of the day came in the women’s under 48kg category, where Russia’s world No.9 Viktoria Potapova beat Germany’s reigning world and Paralympic champion Carmen Brussig in the final

Favourites faltered as other athletes rose to the occasion on the opening day of the International Blind Sports Federations (IBSA) European Judo Championships 2015 on Friday (27 November) in Odivelas, Portugal.

The biggest shock of the day came in the women’s under 48kg category, where Russia’s world No.9 Viktoria Potapova beat Germany’s reigning world and Paralympic champion Carmen Brussig in the final. The usually peerless Brussig took to the mat suffering with an ankle injury and Potapova took full advantage to win by ippon.

Another upset came in the women’s over 70kg category. Turkey’s world No.4 Mesem Tasbag finished the round robin competition undefeated, beating Russia’s world No.1 Irina Kalyanova and Belarus’s world No. 2 Arina Kachan on her way to gold.

In men’s under 60kg event Turkey’s Haydar Ciftci, who is ranked 40th in the world, defeated France’s World No. 15 Kevin Villemont 12-10 in the first round. This left Russia’s Vitalii Koriakin as the clear favourite and he did not disappoint. Koriakin needed less than a minute to beat Azerbaijan’s Ramin Ibrahimov by ippon in the final.

Khorava’s title search continues

Davyd Khorava’s search for a first title since his London 2012 gold continues after defeat in the final of the men’s under 66kg category. In a tense final Khorava was beaten by Azerbaijan’s Bayram Mustafayev. Mustafayev secured two waza-ari in quick succession to take the title.

It was an all-Russian final in the men’s under 100kg competition with Abdula Kuramagomedov beating countryman Malik Kurbanov.

In the women’s under 52kg category gold medal match Ukraine’s Nataliya Nikolayck beat France’s Sandrine Martinet by just a single penalty.

In the men’s over 100kg category Azerbaijan’s Ilham Zakiyev was named the victor after Russia’s Gaidar Gaidarov retired with injury during the final.

For more information about IBSA European Judo Championship 2015, visit the event website. Full results and a live stream of day two of competition are available at the event website.