Azeri men and German women take gold at European Cup Celje

The first day of the European Cup in Celje culminated with thrilling finals where the teams of Azerbaijan and Germany prevailed. Four countries won four medals or even more, including Germany and Hungary. The Hungarians were a bit unlucky with two silver medals and two bronzes. Urska Zolnir handed out a special gold medal to a young compatriot.

In the men's U60kg category, Sherzod Davlatov from Kazakhstan became teh surprising winneragainst David Starkel from Slovenia in the final. The bronze medals were awarded to David Naji from Hungary and Rovshan Aliyev from Azerbaijan.

Nazir Talibov of Azerbaijan did secure the gold in the men's U66kg category, with Balint Gombas from Hungary earning silver. The bronze medals went to Krzysztof Klimkiewicz of Poland and Rashad Yelkiyev of Azerbaijan.

Another gold medal for Azerbaijan as Nariman Mirzayev emerged victorious in the men's U73kg category in a final against his compatriot Kamran Suleymanov. The bronze medals were awarded to Naim Matt from Switzerland and Serhii Nebotov from Ukraine.

Turning to the women's events, the 17-year old Leila Mazouzi from Slovenia clinched gold in the U63kg category, the only gold medal for the home country and youngest winner ever in Celje, even younger than Daria Bilodid in 2018. Her legendary Slovenian heroes Urska Zolnir and Tina Trstenjak won the tournament multiple times and both became Olympic Champion in this weight category. Mazouzi won her final against Charlotte Von Leupoldt from Germany, while Mirjam Wirth from Germany and Anna Kriza from Hungary each earned a bronze medal. Mazouzi was awarded her gold medal by Urska Zolnir.

Tayla Grauer of Germany triumphed in the women's U70kg category, securing the gold medal in this class which is always well-represented by Germany. In the final she defeated Nadia Swinkels from the Netherlands, with Karla Kulic from Croatia and Lucie Zarybnicka from the Czech Republic both taking bronze.

Another strong weight class for Germany is women’s U78kg where Mathilda Niemeyer from Germany emerged as the winner against Nikolett Sagi from Hungary. Aleksandra Turek from Poland and Lea Gobec from Croatia each secured bronze medals.

In the women's O78kg division, Helena Vukovic from Croatia clinched the gold medal. Her compatriot, Ivana Maranic, had to be satisfied with silver. The bronze medals were awarded to Tiziana Marini from Italy and Urska Torkar from Slovenia.

On Sunday more action from Celje which is always a good preparation event, but none of the potential Olympians took part. With 324 participants the organisation cannot complain as it is the biggest amount of athletes since 2017 and second best ever since the first the European Cup was held in Podčetrtek.