Serbia Fifth at Judo Mixed Team Europeans in Belgrade
Serbia lost the bronze medal match to Turkey 4-1 at the European Mixed Team Judo Championships in Belgrade. Russia took the title, with golden score points deciding several bouts.
With only seconds left in the bout, Marica Perisic finally pinned her opponent on her back after a long spell of ground work. The osae-komi gave Serbia its only point in the bronze medal match at the European Mixed Team Judo Championships in Belgrade, but it was not enough. The hosts lost to Turkey 4-1 at the “Aleksandar Nikolic” hall in Belgrade and finished fifth.
How did the bronze medal match unfold?
Turkey scored right away. Milica Zabic and Hilal Ozturk did not settle the over 70 kilograms bout in regulation time, with Zabic carrying one penalty by then and her opponent two. In the golden score Ozturk applied a choke and put Turkey ahead. Recep Ergin then threw Vidak Maljevic with an uchi-mata for ippon in the first minute of the over 90 kilograms bout, making it 2-0.
In the under 57 kilograms category, Perisic kept pressing on the ground against Aysenur Karadag and collected penalties for her opponent. The hold in the closing seconds cut the deficit to 2-1. Turkey answered in kind: Muhamed Demirel beat Baysangur Bagaev in the under 73 kilograms category with a waza-ari, a yuko and a hold, making it 3-1. In the final bout, at under 70 kilograms, Aleksandra Andric lost to Fidan Ogel, who settled it with a waza-ari-awasete-ippon.
What happened in the quarterfinal against France?
The road to bronze was harder than it needed to be. Serbia beat Italy 4-2 in the round of 16 and then ran into France in the quarterfinals. The hosts took the lead, France answered with two wins, and then Maljevic beat Tieman Dijabi in the golden score, where Dijabi was given a third penalty, to level it at 2-2. Perisic won her golden score bout against Marta Favaz and brought Serbia one step from the semifinals.
But Mateja Stosic lost to Maxime Gober on a waza-ari, making it 3-3. The draw picked the over 70 kilograms category for the deciding bout and paired Zabic once more with Le Fonten, who had already beaten her earlier in the same match. Both judoka had two penalties, and in the fourth minute and 20th second the Frenchwoman scored a yuko with a harai-makikomi. France won 4-3. In the repechage, Serbia beat Hungary 4-0 without a single lost bout and earned the bronze medal match.
Who won gold and bronze?
Russia took the title, beating Georgia 4-1 in the final. Georgia had no fighter in the over 70 kilograms category, so Elis Starceva was awarded a point without a bout. Valerij Endovicki then beat Irakli Demetrasvili with a ko-soto-gake for ippon, and Irina Zueva scored two yukos against Eteri Liparteliani in the under 57 kilograms category. Georgia cut the score to 3-1 through Lasa Savdatuasvili, who scored a yuko against Buijan-Herel Sana at the last moment of their bout, and Tamara Liscenko brought the deciding point against Nino Gulbani in the under 70 kilograms category.
Alongside Turkey, France took bronze by beating Germany 3-2 in the other third place match. Thirteen teams entered the championships, and Russia won its quarterfinal and semifinal without losing a single bout.
For Serbia, the tournament ended with two wins and two defeats in the knockout rounds: Italy and Hungary were beaten, France and Turkey were not. France needed a bout picked by the draw to win 4-3. Turkey did not.
