European Cup for Juniors begins in Sarajevo, over 300 competitors taking part

(Patria) - The European Cup for Juniors, a competition bringing together world-class young athletes for their first major competitive test of the new season, began today in Sarajevo.

The focus of all participants in the competition, whose technical organiser is the Judo Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is directed towards the Junior European and World Championships.

The host of the two-day competition, which features more than 300 competitors from 21 countries, will be the Arena Hills hall, and Bosnia and Herzegovina will be represented by 38 competitors,
more precisely 27 male judokas and 11 female judokas.

On the first competition day, female judokas will compete in the categories -63 kg, -70 kg, -78 kg and
+78 kg, while male competitors will step onto the tatami in the categories -60 kg, -
66 kg and -73 kg.

From the Judo Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they emphasised that they are fully prepared for this competition and believe that the organisation will go smoothly. It is worth noting that the European Judo Cup is the first of a total of seven such events that our country will host this year.

Among the registered competitors are three female judokas who hold second place on the
world ranking list. One of them is 19-year-old Tabea Nika Mecklenburg from Germany,
junior bronze medallist from the 2024 European Championships and junior bronze medallist from the
2025 World Championships in the category up to 52 kg.

Special attention from the home audience is drawn to the category up to 78 kg, where the first seed and
one of the favourites is the home competitor Johanna Elisabeth Klinger (Bosnia and Herzegovina). This 18-year-old judoka currently holds fourth place on the world
ranking list, and her last notable result was achieved less than two weeks ago at the
African Open in Casablanca, where she won a bronze medal in the senior competition and a
silver medal in the junior part of the competition.