Bulgaria's five-time national champion Yanislav Gerchev had the crowd on their feet in the lightest of the men's contest as the 24-year-old judoka beat Israeli favourite Artiom Arshansky in the under 60 kilogram weight category.

The Israeli athletes were highly competitive in almost all of the categories on offer in Bulgaria's capital and tasted their first gold medal success in the men's under 66kg category following Arshansky's disappointment..

Golan Pollack claimed one of Israel's two gold medals in Sofia as he won the men's under 66kg category ©EJU



Golan Pollack came into tournament as favourite to take the title in the under 66kg category and did not disappoint on the big stage as he overcame Belarus' Dzmitry Shershan to add to a string of impressive results at the end of his 2013 season.

The men's under 73kg category was another strong event for Israel's judoka with three-time European Open champion Sagi Muki gunning for the gold.

His title pursuit was ended at the final hurdle however as Great Britain's Patrick Dawson secured his first European Open title to bolster his chances of a spot on the Scottish team ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games on home soil.

Hungary's medal haul was given a huge boost in the men's under 81 category where 2013 Rijeka Grand Prix winner Szabolcs Krizsan triumphed over teammate and Kazan 2013 Universiade bronze medallist László Csoknyai.

Israel won their second gold of the event in the men's under 90kg with five-time national champion Alon Sason beating Serbia's Aleksandar Kukolj to take her third successive title following victory in the European Open in Glasgow and Israeli National Championships at the end of 2013.

Distria Krasniqi secured gold for Kosovo in the women's lightest weight category - the under 48kg event ©EJU



Kosovan judoka Distria Krasniqi got her 2014 off to a great start in the women's under 48kg event as she beat local favourite Borislava Damyanova to secure the gold medal.

Germany got their gold medal hunt underway in the women's under 52kg event as double European medallist Romy Tarangul claimed her first European Open title with victory over Ukrainian Tetyana Levytska.

Hedvig Karakas added a second gold for Hungary in the women's under 57kg competition as she overcame the Dutch duo of Carla Grol and Juul Franssen to claim the gold medal.

It was Grol she beat in the gold medal final as Franssen claimed bronze alongside Swiss judoka Evelyne Tschopp.

Tina Trstenjak ensured a gold medal travelled home to Slovakia as she edged past Italy's Edwige Gwend in the women's under 63kg whilst Gévrise Émane claimed France's first gold medal with a win over Germany's Szaundra Diedrich.

Carolin Weiss added Germany's second gold of the European Open in the women's heavyweight contest as she beat Mexico's Vanessa Zambotti in the over 78kg category.

Many of the judoka will now travel to France to participate in the 20th edition of the Paris Grand Slam before the women move on to Rome for their second European Open event, with the men competing at the Oberwart European Open in Austria.

To watch the latest action on Judo TV click here.

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