European lightweights shake up Japanese power show in Linz

Day one at the Upper Austria Grand Prix 2026 in Linz had everything: a strong Japanese charge, bold European performances and a few big names sent home early. With the lightweight categories in action, the brackets moved fast and the tension never really dropped.

In the women’s -48kg division, the shock came from the Netherlands. Vera Wandel took out top seed Abiba Abuzhakynova in the quarter-final, breaking open the draw and booking her spot in the last four. Fellow Dutch judoka Amber Gersjes joined her there after beating Helen Habib, Tamar Malka and Laura Martínez Abelenda in a confident run. Gersjes’ momentum was finally stopped by Spain’s Eva Pérez Soler, who advanced to the final to face Japan’s Mitsuki Kondo.

Dutch women light up the -48kg draw

The bronze medal contests at -48kg are loaded with storylines. Gersjes now has a tough rematch with Abuzhakynova, while Wandel will face Martínez Abelenda again, giving Europe two serious shots at the podium. At -52kg, Hungary’s Róza Gyertyás produced one of the standout European performances of the day by booking her place in the final. She meets Japan’s Iroha Oi, who knocked out favourite Ayumi Leiva Sánchez in the semi-final. The Spaniard now has to reset quickly for a bronze medal fight against Britain’s Tatum Keen.

In the -57kg category, Japan locked in at least one gold with an all-Japanese final between Moa Ono and Ayami Takano. Ono delivered a major upset earlier by defeating top seed Marica Perišić in the quarters and then France’s Martha Fawaz in the semi-final, while Takano overcame Spain’s Marta García Martín. Fawaz is still in the hunt and will battle Brazil’s Jessica Lima for bronze, another key chance for Europe to stay in touch on the medal table.

The men’s -60kg division saw French favourite Romain Valadier-Picard underline his status by beating Japan’s Sei Sato in the semi-final. He now faces Ukraine’s Dilshot Khalmatov, who got past Kazakhstan’s Sherzod Davlatov, setting up a fully European final and a guaranteed gold for the continent. At -66kg, the script held as top seed Ruslan Pashayev of Azerbaijan advanced to the final, where he will face second seed Ronald Lima of Brazil.

European interest remains high in the race for bronze at -66kg. Olympic medallist Vazha Margvelashvili of Georgia earned his place in the medal fight by defeating former world number one Denis Vieru in the repechage final and now meets Spain’s Alberto Gaitero Martín. The second bronze contest brings together Spain’s Adrián Nieto Chinarro and Kazakhstan’s Gusman Kyrgyzbayev, closing an opening day where European judoka repeatedly pushed back against Japanese dominance.

Source: JudoInside