Judokas take bronze in Ekaterinburg

Russian national team took third place in the first ever European Mixed Team Judo Championships, which took place on July 18, in Ekaterinburg.

The Championships was attended by 21 national teams, each consisting of 6 members – three men (weight categories -73kg, -90kg and +90kg) and three women (-57kg, -70kg and +70kg).

Joining the fight in the second round, Russians first defeated their rivals from Ukraine 4-0. Darya Mezhetskaya (57kg), Musa Mogushkov (73kg), Taisiya Kireeva (70kg) and Khusen Khalmurzaev (90kg) won their fights. It was enough for the ahead-of-time success.

In the quarterfinals the Czech team also lost in a whitewash. Anastasia Konkina (57 kg), Denis Yartsev (73 kg), Taisia Kireeva (70 kg) and Ivan Vorobyov (90 kg) performed in his match.

However in the semifinals the German team was waiting for us. This time Konkina and Yartsev lost, Alyona Prokopenko (70 kg) reduced the gap in the score, but Khalmurzaev did not support her initiative.  Ksenia Chibisova (+70 kg) also suffered a defeat. And the total score was 1-4.

In the third place match Russians again did not let their rivals (the team from Azerbaijan) win a single fight.

The victories were won by Mezhetskaya, Mogushkov, Prokopenko and Khalmurzaev. The second set of bronze medals went to Ukraine, which defeated France in the end 4-3.

The German team became the winner, defeating Holland 4-2 in the finals.

We will remind that last year the IOC included the mixed team Judo competitions in the program of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. President of the Russian Olympic Committee  Stanislav Pozdnyakov visited Ekaterinburg. After the tournament he told journalists  that successful performance in Japan is the main goal of Russian judokas.

– It is up to experts to judge, but, as far as I can feel, the team looked good enough, Pozdnyakov told the journalists. — For us it is very important that it looks good in two years in Tokyo. I can wish all our team good luck in gaining maximum quotas for the Olympic Games and good preparation for the competition.

The head of the ROC also praised the organizers of the tournament, noting that Ekaterinburg has become another excellent example of how  international competitions can be staged in Russia.