A big field came to the most important Hungarian championship of the year in the junior category: 367 judokas from 26 countries from five continents took to the tatami mat at the Junior European Cup in Pak. the Ebon Judo Tatapania SE Áron Szabo took second place among the 73 kg.
In the most popular weight group (67 competitors), Áron beat his Turkish and Moldovan opponents with ippon, and American challenger Vasari. In the semi-finals, he also defeated his Canadian rival to Ippon, but lost in the final match in the same way to a Ukrainian player. 90 kg Dániel Miklósvölgyi started with an ippon against an Icelandic juggler, then lost to a French and Moldavian challenger and ended up unplaced. In addition to the other three beginners, Rebecca Keeler (52 kg), Georgina Kropel (63 kg) and Patrick Staub (66 kg).
– In the final, the referee stopped Áron’s action, which, in my opinion, was correct. Being at a disadvantage due to warnings, he was forced to attack, and the Ukrainian pushed him down after a counter. In general, I am satisfied with his performance and we continue to prepare for the European Championships in our age category in The Hague in September. Danny beat the French with Vasari’s advantage, and in the face of Moldova he unsuccessfully drove the alarms, made a tactical mistake and lost again. Physically he is fine, but he still needs to improve mentally – his performance as a competitor was evaluated by the head coach of Ippon Judo Tatapania SE Caba Cernovichi, who also mentioned that another European Cup will be held in Graz this weekend, where Rebecca will be. Keeler, Daniel Miklosvolgy and Aaron Szabo are expected to represent the Hungarian Assembly and Colors.
Hungary, which collected nine medals (five silver and four bronze), finished eighth in the medal table, and France took first place (6 gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze), ahead of Ukraine and Canada.
