Russian juniors convince at European Cup in La Coruna

The juniors of Russia were strong at the first day in La Coruna, Spain. With four gold medals and 12 medals in total, the Russian lead the medal table. The French judoka follow with two gold medals, Italy and Germany both grabbed one title in the north of Spain.

At the sixth European Cup for Juniors this season the French team cheered for the first gold medal of the day by 17-year old Melanie Frigoul. The French bested Mireia Rodriguez Salvador in the final U44kg. Ten judoka in this class, however not a bad field. Overall 333 judoka are gathered in Spain this weekend.

Melanie Vieu bested Ekaterina Dolgikh (RUS) in the final U44kg and gave more grip on the medal table. German judoka Annika Würfel (18) won her category U52kg after she overcame Yasmin Javadian of Great Britain. Russia finally took gold when Margarita Shrainer won her last contest against Vera Zemanova (CZE).

In the men’s division Russia had lost its first final when Imam Ibragimov saw Gabriele Greco win for Italy U55kg. The Italian young men were very strong in this category with three positions in the top eight. Antonio Corsale won bronze. It was Russia though that prevailed in the three men’s divisions with triple gold for Gevorg Karapetian, Kazbek Naguchev and Georgii Elbakiev.

Gevorg Karapetian defeated Alon Aharon, the young men who competed at the European Senior Championships in Tel Aviv recently. Karapetian also won in Sarajevo in March. A strong Russian team U60kg. Kazbek Naguchev won gold U66kg against Spaniard Salvador Cases Roca, the second home player who lost his final. World Cadet Champion Naguchev won his first Junior European Cup and was the youngest male winner today.

Georgii Elbakiev defeated David Gamosov in an all Russian final U73kg. Elbakiev won the European Open for seniors  this year and is considered as one of the talents in Russia. The Russians bring in a team of 34 athletes and will are expected to win a few more medals on Sunday.