Tbilisi countdown: -48 kg and -60 kg set for a European speed test

Seven days out, the European Judo Championships Seniors Tbilisi 2026 are already starting to look real. The entry list is close to its final shape, and even without Los Angeles 2028 qualification status, the world ranking points on offer still matter. The opening spotlight falls on women’s -48 kg and men’s -60 kg—two divisions where one blink can be one mistake.

In -48 kg, the target is still Shirine Boukli (FRA). The Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist comes to her fifth senior Europeans with a perfect record so far: four appearances, four titles. Tara Babulfath (SWE), also an Olympic bronze medallist from Paris, adds even more pressure to a category that never slows down.

In -48 kg, speed isn’t a detail—it’s the whole story.

Assunta Scutto (ITA) pushes the stakes even higher as the reigning world champion. If the seeding holds, she is projected to meet Babulfath, and their rivalry is already balanced at 1–1 after trading major-event wins. Above that sits the potential blockbuster: Boukli vs Scutto. They have split five big encounters 3–2 in Boukli’s favour, with recent clashes at the European Championships and World Championships showing how thin the margins are—whoever wins tends to ride the momentum all the way.

The bottom half offers no real comfort either. Second seed Sabina Giliazova (RUS) brings consistency, while Laura Martinez Abelenda (ESP), seeded third and a world bronze medallist, looks increasingly ready to turn control into a breakthrough moment. And then there is Andreja Stojadinov (SRB): unseeded, but a 2025 European bronze medallist with the kind of style that can flip a bracket fast.

Men’s -60 kg loses a key name with the absence of Ayub Bliev (RUS), yet the depth stays brutal with 26 athletes entered. Luka Mkheidze (FRA) arrives with Olympic medals from Tokyo (bronze) and Paris (silver), while Francisco Garrigós (ESP) brings Paris 2024 bronze plus a three-time European champion’s mindset (2021, 2022, 2024). Defending European champion Giorgi Sardalashvili (GEO) and Garrigós are also recent world champions—and the seeding twist means they could collide early.

This -60 kg draw feels like a final from round one.

Beyond the headline rivalry, danger is everywhere: Salih Yildiz (TUR) and Andrasi Marton (HUN) have both beaten Sardalashvili at major events, and Jorre Verstraeten (BEL) keeps hovering close to a podium run. Keep an eye too on 18-year-old Izhak Ashpiz (ISR), fresh off winning the Tbilisi Grand Slam and taking bronze at the Paris Grand Slam this season. Every exchange will play out live on JudoTV, where one counter—or one Golden Score—can redraw the whole title picture.

Source: EJU_News