A number of Ippon Gear athletes participated in the tournament and this weekend was no different from the last one as they took home a total of 19 medals.
Krisztian Toth won gold in the -100 kg, a category higher than his normal one, after a break from tournaments since becoming a father. The gold medal was a perfect comeback before the bigger tournaments coming up in July and August with the Grand Prix in Zagreb and Budapest. The national Hungarian anthem was also played on day one of competition as Emoke Knetig won gold in the -52 kg weight category after winning all of her fights impressively on ippon.
Toth's and Knetig's Hungarian teammates also acquitted themselves well. Bence Boros picked up a silver medal in the -66 kg category which was his second European Cup medal of the year. Bronze medals went to Csaba Szabo in -60 kg, Roland Goz in -81 kg, Marton Veres in -90 kg and Renata Lorinc in -70 kg. All in all a very successful weekend for the Hungarian team.
Also, the Croatian national anthem was played this weekend as Petrunjela Pavic in -78 kg won the gold medal. The Croatian team also took home a handful of other medals. Silver medals were won by Sara Matijevic in -48 kg, Ana Kokeza in -63 kg, Andela Violic in -70 kg and Lucija Katarina Vukovic in +78 kg. Also, in the -57 kg category Iva Oberan took home a bronze medal as well as Tina Radic did in +78 kg.
The Czech Republic also made an impressive appearance at the tournament as they picked up 4 medals. Silver went to David Pulkrabek in the under 60 kg category only losing out in the final. The Petr brothers both made it to the podium as Jiri Petr claimed a silver medal whilst Ivan Petr took bronze. On the women side, we saw the Czech youngster Alice Matejckova fighting her way to a bronze medal in the -78 kg category. The first year senior has transitioned well into seniors as this was her second medal of the season after winning gold in the European Cup in Orenburg in May.
Bosnian youngster Andjela Samardzic showed her skills on the senior stage as she won a bronze medal in -63 kg. In an age of 17, she shows that she has a promising future and is one to watch. Another medal for Bosnia went to Sabina Haracic, the local legend took home a silver medal -78 kg.
The rest of the Ippon Gear team showed that they are close to the top by finishing just outside the podium. 5th places went to Martin Vegvari from Hungary, Ivan Covic from Croatia, Kitti Kovacs from Hungary, Sara Balogh from Hungary, Lea Gobec from Croatia and Zrinka Miocic also from Croatia. Seventh places went to Mark Cseh, Marko Kumric, Bruna Bilic, Andrea Karman and Alexandra Maroti.
