On the opening day of the competition, 20 year old Giovanni Esposito made Italy proud by claiming the gold medal -73 kg category - A strong division with 72 participants.
Also Danish Lærke Marie Olsen made a strong appearance and showed her consistency in the -63 kg class by picking up her second European Cup bronze medal this year. In the same weight division, Croatian Lucija Babic made a strong effort as well and finished just outside the podium with a 5th place.
On Sunday, the IPPONGEAR junior athletes continued to impress and added six more medals - Five bronze and one silver.
The first medal was picked up by Hungarian lightweight Fatime Beringer who claimed a bronze medal in the -44 kg category.
In the -48 kg category, the bronze medal went to Mascha Ballhaus, soon followed up by twin sister Seija Ballhaus (-52 kg) also winning a bronze medal. Both Ballhaus sisters have made a succesful transition from the cadet to the junior division, getting their second Junior European Cup medal this weekend.
Hungarian Ferenc Toth (-90 kg) won his first ever European Cup medal this weekend - A silver medal. The Hungarian had a strong performance through out the day and did only lose in the final to European Open gold medalist Kosuke Mashiyama of Japan.
Furthermore, Danish Mathias Madsen picked up his second medal this year and showed that he is one to watch in the -100 kg category.
Last but not least, there was a bronze medal for Marketa Paulusova +78 kg. The Czech heavyweight have had a great season so far and her bronze medal here in Leibnitz was her fourth medal this year.
