Warsaw Sunday belongs to Poland: three golds light up the European Open finale

Day two of the European Open in Warsaw delivered the kind of finish the crowd dreams of. Poland closed Sunday with three gold medals and climbed to second in the overall medal table, only behind a French team that stayed consistent across the whole weekend. With 320 judoka from 27 nations on the entry list, the last day wrapped up seven weight categories and left the arena buzzing.

A defining moment came in the women’s -52 kg division, which featured 17 competitors. Aleksandra Kaleta turned home pressure into a breakthrough, winning gold in her first Continental Open final after previously collecting three bronzes. Against Italy’s Kenya Perna, she built control step by step: a tani-otoshi scored yuko, then she countered an uchi-mata attempt for Waza-ari, and later added another yuko to seal a dominant sequence. Poland also added a bronze here through Barbara Twarowska, with France’s Alicia Marques taking the other bronze.

Three Polish flags at the top on Sunday changed the mood in the medal table.

Poland’s second title came from the men’s -81 kg category, a deep field of 31 athletes. Szymon Szulik stayed composed in the final and got the win over the Netherlands’ Joshua de Lange. France still left its mark in the same division, placing Luca Otmane and Bastien Pons on the podium and underlining the depth of their squad.

The third gold was delivered in the heavyweight +100 kg class, contested by 15 judoka. Grzegorz Teresinski took the final against Azerbaijan’s Jamal Feyziyev, while Poland’s Jakub Sordyl picked up bronze. Germany also celebrated a podium finish thanks to Daniel Udsilauri.

France added more wins elsewhere: Marine Gilly took -48 kg in an all-French final over Fina Pamedie Katendi Nzuzi, and Ophelie Vellozzi claimed -57 kg by beating Poland’s Arleta Podolak. Montenegro’s Novo Raičević captured -90 kg, and the Netherlands produced a team final in -100 kg with Joes Schell defeating Lars Vissers. France finished on top overall, but Poland’s Sunday surge gave the hosts a finale to remember.

Source: JudoInside