Vidak Maljevic Takes U23 European Silver in Naples
Red Star judoka lost the over-100 kg final to Kanan Nasibov, who defended his under-23 European title after Maljevic picked up a third penalty.
Kanan Nasibov held the initiative in the over-100 kg final while Vidak Maljevic collected penalties. When the third one came, a shido, the bout was over, and the Serbian judoka left the tatami in Naples as the under-23 European runner-up.
The silver arrived on Saturday, October 31, on the final day of the individual events. Maljevic is a member of Judo Club Red Star, and his coach is David Radulovic. He won three of his four bouts, so the medal came from a full day’s work, not just the final.
How did Maljevic reach the final?
The road to the gold-medal bout ran through three wins, each ending differently:
- in the first round he beat Rino Vrljic of Croatia by ippon after 3 minutes and 25 seconds
- in the second, Georgia’s Saba Kardava was disqualified after 4 minutes and 39 seconds
- in the semifinal he beat Romania’s Darius Dobre 10-1, after four minutes
Dobre then turned up in the bronze-medal bout. According to the European Judo Union report, France’s Yann Rigaud beat him in golden score with a tai-otoshi for yuko, with Dobre having picked up two penalties in regular time to Rigaud’s one. Bronze therefore went to the judoka who had finished behind Maljevic in the semifinal.
What did the over-100 kg final look like?
Unlike the categories that finished earlier in the day, such as the under-81 kg final, which lasted 29 seconds, this was a tactical fight. Nasibov controlled the grip exchanges, kept up the pressure and pushed Maljevic into mistakes. The Serbian collected three shidos, and that decided the winner.
Nasibov is the defending champion and a bronze medallist at the 2026 senior World Championships. He became the first Azerbaijani judoka with two consecutive under-23 European titles in the over-100 kg category. His gold was also Azerbaijan’s second of the day, after the under-100 kg category, where Azhdar Baghirov took the title. The European Judo Union records that the over-100 kg gold put Azerbaijan top of the overall medal table, ahead of Italy and Israel.
After the final, Nasibov told the European Judo Union website: “I am very happy. I knew I would be champion.” He was already looking beyond this championship: “My goal is to be great. My goal is to become an Olympic champion.”
Who else won medals in the category?
The other bronze went to Mortaza Suha of Germany, who beat Georgia’s Djordji Baduasvili. Alongside Nasibov and Maljevic, the medallists in the category are judoka from Azerbaijan, Serbia, France and Germany. According to the same report, 21 countries won at least one medal in the individual events, and nine of them reached at least one gold.
The competition in Naples continues on Sunday, November 1, with the mixed team event.
