By Nick Butler

Alexios Ntanatsidis of Greece on his way to an all action victory in the mens 81kg event to claim one of four titles for Europe on day threeOctober 25 - Greece, Croatia, Georgia and the Netherlands all claimed titles to ensure that it was a third day for the Europeans to savour at the World Junior Judo Championships in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as Japan had to be content with three silver medals.


On the men's side Beka Gviniashvili became the latest in a long line of revered Georgian judoka to win the Junior World title as he added the gold medal to an earlier European one in the under 90 kilogram category.

A former World and European champion at cadet level, as well as a European Youth Olympic Festival winner, the Georgian won all five of his contests by ippon with victory in the final over Kazakhstan's Samat Yessen.

After being defeated by Gviniashvili earlier in the competition Poland's Patryk Ciechomski recovered to claim bronze while the other medal was secured by Tajikistan's Komronshoh Ustopiriyon.

Georgian fighter Beka Gviniashvili stands atop the podium after adding the Junior World under 90kg title to a string of earlier honoursGeorgian fighter Beka Gviniashvili stands atop the podium after adding the Junior World under 90kg title to a string of earlier honours



In the women's under 63kg it was always set to be a battle between the Dutch Junior European champion Do Velema and Japan's Tokyo Grand Slam winner Megumi Tsugane.

In an impressive showdown between two athletes long tipped for the top, Velema was on the verge of defeat before rallying to secure an ippon with just 18 seconds remaining to claim victory.

There was a global flavour to the bronze medals which were won by Mongolia's Mungunchimeg Baldorj and Cuba's Maylin Del Toro Carvajal.

There was another future female star on show in the under 70kg category as Croatia's Barbara Matic, already the European under 23 silver medalist, added another major accolade to her already lengthy honours list when she defeated Japan's Chizuru Arai within 68 seconds.

The two bronze medals were claimed by Germany's Szaundra Diedrich and France's two-time European Junior champion Margaux Pinot.

Barbara Matic of Croatia outsted her Japanese opponent in winning one of four titles for European judoko on day threeBarbara Matic of Croatia outsted her Japanese opponent in winning one of four titles for European judoko on day three


There was a shock in the under 81kg when yet another Japanese athlete had to be content with a silver medal after Greece's Alexios Ntanatsidis humbled All Japan Judo Championships bronze medallist Kenya Kohara.

The Greek fighter threw his opponent for two waza-ari's to claim victory in 61 seconds.

There was another German bronze medal courtesy of Dominic Ressel while the other was taken by Azebaijan's Mammadali Mehdiyev.

In front of another capacity and diverse crowd of all generations where judo once again come to the fore, Daniel Lascau, Sports Director of the International Judo Federation (IJF), had only positive things to say about the event so far.

"The standard has been very high, in particular we have seen some very good ne-waza work," he said.

"Athletes are also learning the importance of fighting right until the end of the contest and that is something they will take with them into senior competitions.

"A lot of fights have been won in the last few seconds by big ippons."

After three days of competition, Russia lead the way with two gold medals while Japan occupy second place with one gold in addition to four silver and four bronze medals.

France are in third place with one gold medal and three bronze.

To watch the latest action on Judo TV click here.

Photos©IJF Media Team by G. Sabau

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