Larisa Cerić and Nikola Pljevaljčić win gold at European Open Sarajevo 2023

(Patria) - The second day of competition at the third European Judo Open, technically organized by the Judo Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was extremely successful for our country's top judokas. Gold medals were won by Larisa Cerić (+78 kg) and Nikola Pljevaljčić (-100 kg). Silver medals were won by Aleksandra Samardžić (-70 kg) and Toni Miletić (-90 kg), while Sara Marić (+78 kg) won the bronze medal match.

Larisa Cerić had no major problems in the absolute category today, and with a victory over Dutch judoka Carmen Dijkstra, she justified her favorite status and won the gold medal and 100 new points for the world ranking list.

- I love competing in Sarajevo, it's my home ground, the audience, I'm truly happy and especially motivated every time, just like today when I managed to win the gold medal and 100 new points that will mean a lot for my Olympic ranking. I wake up every day with the same desire, to qualify for the Olympic Games and, of course, to try to achieve something in this third jubilee year, because ultimately it's the only medal I'm missing from my collection of all the ones I've won - said Larisa Cerić, whose current world ranking guarantees her participation in the Olympic Games in Paris next summer.

After today's triumph, Larisa also touched upon the work of the Judo Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- The Judo Federation of BiH received the "The best of the best" award last year for technical organization, which is always impeccable and everything is at the highest level. People like to come to Sarajevo and compete here, where everyone feels at home. Through conversations with colleagues from other national teams, I know they are happy and proud when they come to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Her national team colleague Nikola Pljevaljčić, who triumphed in the category up to 100 kilograms, managed to repeat the success of the best Bosnian and Herzegovinian judoka. Pljevaljčić was better than the Briton Oliver Barratt in the final, thus bringing our country the second gold medal today at the European Judo Open Sarajevo 2023. Ruslan Nasirli from Azerbaijan and Boris Georgiev from Bulgaria also won gold medals.

- I tried hard, I gave my all for everything to be as it should be, the home crowd, my club, my coaches, my family... In the end, everything turned out as it should. It was difficult to even reach the final. The rivals were good and quality fighters, but it was meant to be - said Nikola Pljevaljčić after the medal ceremony.

The number of gold medals for Bosnia and Herzegovina could have been higher. However, Alina Lengweiler (Switzerland) proved to be an extremely tough opponent and was better than our Aleksandra Samardžić in the final of the category up to 70 kilograms, while Toni Miletić was defeated by German judoka Tim Schmidt in the fight for gold.

The top-notch technical organization for which the Judo Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is well-known was enhanced this time with excellent results.

Namely, along with the gold medal won yesterday by Anđela Samardžić, our national team concluded this prestigious international competition, which counts towards the world ranking list and thus the Olympic Games, as the most successful team.

Great Britain is in second place with two gold medals, one silver, and two bronze medals, while Germany is third with two gold medals and four bronze medals.