Rating European Open Sofia 2016

n incredibly competitive weekend has come to an end in Sofia (Bulgaria) during the first European Open of the year. By the end of day two the total number of 14 gold medals been spread amongst 11 countries. There are only two nations which were able to double it up for the weekend, namely Russia and Slovenia, which of the last happened to take all the golden moments throughout today.

Young, yet very talented Slovenian judoka, Klara APOTEKAR shined throughout the day as she won all five of her contest, three of which with her already tactically outstanding judo skills. The first contest seen Larissa GROENWOLD of the Netherlands taking on all the challenges of Apotekar who scored a waza-ari to take a lead to round two of the -78kg category. The second contest seen 2016 Cuba Grand Prix bronze medallist Assunta GALEONE (ITA) being challenged by the 18 years old judoka. This was the time where Apotekar’s tactical skills shined as she defeated her opponent on penalties.

There was no different against Barbara BANDEL (GER) in the quarter-final who was overpowered by a single penalty. In the semi-finals, Apotekar pulled out her ne-waza skills to implement an armlock on Ivana MARANIC (CRO). Portugal’s 2016 Rio Olympic hopeful, Yahima RAMIREZ was in opposition to take the gold away from 2015 U23 European Champion, Apotekar. For the golden stake, the Slovenian judoka brought back some of her previously used tactical skills and crushed Ramirez on penalties.

“I am very happy. I didn’t expect to win a medal here. I only came here for experience. I only have one medal from senior tournaments and it is this gold medal I won today. The hardest fight was definitely my second contest because I was facing the number one seeded. I lost against her twice already and I know her very well and so I knew what she will do. At the end, I felt she was tired and the next thing I knew I won the contest”, Apotekar explained.

“My next aim will be to win a medal at a Grand Prix or Grand Slam tournament. Velensek is actually my half sister. We train together and her results pushes me to work even harder because I want to be succesful like her”, she added.

The next European Open will take place in two weeks’ time when all female athletes will head out to Rome (Italy) to challenge each other, whilst the male competitors will battle out the weekend in Oberwart (Austria).

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	Gold medalist -70kg POGACNIK, Anka (SLO) “It is my second competition of the year as I also fought in Tunis [African Open] few weeks ago where I took bronze. The final was really thought, I threw waza-ari early and it was hard to keep my score until the end. I need points so it is a very important win for me today. I am really happy.”	-70 kg 1. POGACNIK, Anka (SLO) 2. ROBRA, Juliane (SUI) 3. AUSMA, Natascha (NED) 3. MUELLER, Lisa (GER)
	Gold medalist -81kg PAPUNASHVILI, Giorgi (GEO)	-81 kg 1. PAPUNASHVILI, Giorgi (GEO) 2. RESSEL, Dominic (GER) 3. COLLIN, Benoit (FRA) 3. DE WIT, Frank (NED)
	Gold medalist -78kg APOTEKAR, Klara (SLO) “I am very happy. I didn’t expect to win a medal here. I only came here for experience. I only have one medal from senior tournaments and it is this gold medal I won today. The hardest fight was definitely my second contest because I was facing the number one seeded. I lost against her twice already and I know her very well and so I knew what she will do. At the end, I felt she was tired and the next thing I knew I won the contest.”	-78 kg 1. APOTEKAR, Klara (SLO) 2. RAMIREZ, Yahima (POR) 3. PARK, Yujin (KOR) 3. STEVENSON, Karen (NED)
	Gold medalist -90kg BEREZHNYI, Dmytro (UKR) “Last year I won bronze here a weight class above and than I decided to go down to -90kg because of the Olympic Games. It is my dream to go for the Olympic Games and I think I have a chance in this weight class. Each competition for me is a special step towards success and towards the Olympic Games.”	-90 kg 1. BEREZHNYI, Dmytro (UKR) 2. ZHUKAU, Ihar (BLR) 3. SAFGULIYEV, Tural (AZE) 3. VER, Gabor (HUN)
	Gold medalist +78kg WEISS, Carolin (GER) “I am happy to defend my title here in Sofia. My aim is to win as many medals I can in lead up to the Olympic Games and to pressure my two rivals in Germany. The truth is that I am also in the qualification zone for Rio 2016 and with five months to go anything can happen.”	+78 kg 1. WEISS, Carolin (GER) 2. PAKENYTE, Santa (LTU) 3. ADLINGTON, Sarah (GBR) 3. SLUTSKAYA, Maryna (BLR)
	Gold medalist -100kg DARWISH, Ramadan (EGY) “This event for me was very important as I was out for almost eight months due to an injury. This is just the beginning of my return towards the Games. It was a tough day of fighting. We missed the flight in Istanbul, we slept a night on the floor at the airport and top of it all of our luggage gone lost. We stayed in the same clothes for several days. I am really satisfied as I was challenged not only by my opponents but all the hard conditions in lead up to the tournament.”	-100 kg 1. DARWISH, Ramadan (EGY) 2. CORREA, Luciano (BRA) 3. KORREL, Michael (NED) 3. TAVELURI, Lasha (GEO)
	Gold medalist +100kg MOURA, David (BRA) “I came here to win of course. The fact that my opponent threw me for waza-ari woke me up. My aim for this year is to go to the Olympic Games and to win a medal there. It was important for me today to win as it gave me the chance to prove I am a better competitor than my rivals in Brazil.”	+100 kg 1. MOURA, David (BRA) 2. SASSON, Or (ISR) 3. MASCETTI, Alessio (ITA) 3. VAKHAVIAK, Aliaksandr (BLR)