By Paul Osborne

Europe has defeated Asia in the inaugural ECCO Team Challenge in Russia ©IJFJanuary 25 - Europe has dominated the inaugural ECCO Team Challenge, beating their Asian opponents by 10 points to four at the Tyumen Judo Olympic Centre in Russia.

Russia's Qingdao Grand Prix under 43 kilogram winner Alesya Kuznetsova set the tone of the intercontinental match up in just the first fight, as she delighted home fans by pulling off a shock victory over world champion Munkhbat Uransetseg on shido penalties.

World champion Takato Naohisa then pulled the tie level when he beat Olympic champion Arsen Galstyan in the men's under 60kg contest, in one of the most thrilling encounters of the day,

Takato even earned the applause of the mainly Russian crowd when he tossed his opponent with a hane-goshi for ippon.

Alesya Kuznetsova shocked world champion Munkhbat Uransetseg with a defiant display to set Europe on their way to victory in Tyumen ©IJFAlesya Kuznetsova shocked world champion Munkhbat Uransetseg with a defiant display to set Europe on their way to victory in Tyumen ©IJF



Europe took control of proceedings after this with wins from former European champion Andreea Chitu in the women's under 52kg match up, World Championship bronze medallist Georgii Zantaraia in the men's under 66kg, four-time European champion Telma Monteiro in the women's under 57kg and two-time world silver medallist Dex Elmont in the men's under 73kg, giving them a 5-1 advantage.

Abe Kane set Asia onto the path of recovery as she avenged her World Champion bronze medal match defeat at the hands of Anicka van Emden in the women's under 63kg contest.

Yakhyo Imamov breathed yet more fire into the Asian comeback when he registered an ippon to beat World Championship silver medallist Avtandil Tchrikishvili in the men's under 81kg match-up.

That fire was washed away in the women's under 70kg encounter however, after Laura Vargas-Koch triumphed over Kim Seong-Yeon on shido penalties to pull Europe into a three point lead.

World Championships silver medallist Varlam Liparteliani's wazari-awasette-ippon victory over former world champion Lee Kyu-won in the men's under 90kg event then put Europe on the brink of victory, with one more win all they needed to seal title.

It was not to be for two-time European champion Abigel Joo as she was bested by Olympic bronze medallist Jeong Gyeong-Mi in the women's under 78kg match up, to savour but a glimmer of hope for the Asian contingent.

Henk Grol sealed the victory for Europe when he bested Soyib Kurbonov in the men's -100kg contest ©IJFHenk Grol sealed the victory for Europe when he bested Soyib Kurbonov in the men's under100kg contest ©IJF



Two-time Olympic bronze medallist Henk Grol had better luck however, as the under 100kg judoka edged past Tashkent Grand Prix winner Soyib Kurbonov to steer Europe to gold in Siberia.

Lucija Polavder and Alexander Milkhailin extended Europe's winning margin in the two heaviest weight categories to round off a truly dominant performance by some of Europe's finest judoka.

To watch the latest action on Judo TV click here.

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