Strong fight: Russia won the Judo team Championship with one defeat

The Russian national judo team won the European Team Championship for the first time in seven years: on November 7 in Belgrade, the Russians defeated the Georgian national team in the final with a score of 4:1. This is our second gold since the tournaments were held in a similar format. The previous one was won in 2019 at the European Games in Minsk. This time, the Russian athletes went through the entire tournament, losing to their rivals only in one of the fights, and at the award ceremony they saw the national flag and heard the anthem of Russia.

Special rules

This is not about the usual individual European Championships, where judoka compete for medals in individual weight categories. In Belgrade, one title was played among mixed teams: three men and three women participate in each meeting, and the winner is the team that wins four fights first. Women compete in the categories up to 57, up to 70 and over 70 kg, men — up to 73, up to 90 and over 90 kg. If the score is equal after six matches, the draw determines the decisive category, and its representatives return to the tatami.

The national team could declare two athletes for each of the six weights and change the composition between meetings, so success depends not only on the skill of individual judoka, but also on the distribution of forces and the choice of participants in a particular confrontation. Mixed teams debuted in the Olympic program in Tokyo in 2021, and now ranking points are awarded for European team starts, which are taken into account on the way to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. In Belgrade, these points will be counted with a coefficient of 0.5.

13 national teams and 113 judoka came to the Serbian capital for the championship. Belgrade has already hosted the World Championship in 1989 and the individual European Championship in 2007, but the mixed teams tournament of this level was held here for the first time. A total of eight European Team Championships have been held since the new format was introduced in 2018. The first one was held in Yekaterinburg, where Germany won, and Russia won the bronze.

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A year later, the Russians won the tournament in Minsk, then in 2021 they took third place again. After being suspended from international competitions, the national team skipped the 2022-2024 European Team Championships and returned in 2025, taking bronze in Podgorica. The winner then was Georgia, which won its third gold in the mixed format after the titles of 2021 and 2023. France won in 2022 and 2024. Thus, in Belgrade, the Russian team had to break its own seven-year streak without gold and beat the reigning champion.

The Russian bid includes 12 judoka — two representatives for each category. The women's team consisted of Irina Zueva and Olga Mukhina (up to 57 kg), Tamara Lischenko and Kamila Badurova (up to 70 kg), Alice Startseva and Daria Rechkalova (over 70 kg). The men's team included Shamil Zilfikarov and Buyan-Kherel Sanaa (up to 73 kg), Timur Arbuzov and Egor Andoni (up to 90 kg), Valery Endovitsky and Denis Batchaev (over 90 kg). All of them won team gold, although only six representatives of the national team participated directly in the final.

Arbuzov, the 2025 world champion and two-time European champion in the up to 81 kg category, stood out in the squad, having already competed in the up to 90 kg weight class in Belgrade. Endovitsky won the bronze medal at the individual European Championships in Tbilisi in April, and Lischenko helped Russia get the team bronze in Podgorica a year earlier. Olympic champion Arsen Galstyan, the head coach of the national team, told TASS before the start of the tournament that the team had only come to win, and separately expected to hear the Russian national anthem in honor of the winners.

12:1

Due to the results of the draw, the Russian judoka skipped the first round and started from the quarterfinals. Their opponent was Austria, which had previously had to fight seven matches against Ukraine: after a 3-3 score, Lisa Tretyak won an additional bout. Such a scenario did not work out in the meeting with Russia. Four wins in a row brought our team the final 4-0, and we didn't have to fight in the remaining two categories. The Austrians later lost to Germany in the consolation round with a score of 1-4 and took seventh place.

The semi-final against Turkey seemed to be a more difficult test: the Turkish national team started the day by defeating Greece (4:0), and then knocked out Germany (4:1). However, the Russians again completed the confrontation in four fights. The first to leave was Arbuzov, who met with Emir Salim Ari. Timur first earned a "sko", and towards the middle of the match he made a throw to the "ippon". After the next two victories, Irina Zueva put an end to the confrontation, turning out to be stronger than Aishenur Karadag.

The Georgian national team spent significantly more time in wrestling. In the quarterfinals, she beat Hungary 4-2, and in the semifinals she faced France. The Georgians led 3-1, but Lasha Shavdatuashvili received a third warning in the last second of his fight with Maxim Gober. The French equalized the score — 3:3, after which the draw appointed an additional duel in the same weight up to 73 kg. Shavdatuashvili met Gobert again and this time won in extra time, ensuring Georgia's entry to the finals.

In the decisive meeting, Russia's opponent was not in full strength. Georgia did not field a participant in the women's over 70 kg category, so Alice Startseva won without a fight. The score of 1-0 appeared even before the first real match. However, such a start did not guarantee gold, as the Georgians still had world champions and Olympic medalists in other weights.

Valery Endovitsky, who was opposed by Irakli Demetrashvili, was the first to enter the tatami in the men's heavyweight category. The Georgian started more successfully and was rated "sko", but could not maintain the advantage. About a minute before the end of regular time, Endovitsky made a catch outside, "ko-soto-gake", and laid his opponent on the "ippon". The early victory brought the score to 2-0.

Irina Zueva was next, and opposite her stood Eteri Liparteliani, the 2025 world champion, the 2026 World silver medalist and the current European champion in the weight class up to 57 kg. Until the last minute, none of the athletes managed to gain a decisive advantage. Then Zueva earned a "yuko" with a counterattack, followed by another one with a hook from the inside. Liparteliani did not manage to regain the gap, and Russia led 3-0.

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Brawler-Herel Sanaa could finish the match in the next match. He was opposed by Lasha Shavdatuashvili, Olympic champion of London 2012, silver medalist of Tokyo 2020 and winner of the individual European Championship this year. By the third minute, both athletes had received two warnings, so any new mistake could decide the bout. Instead, the outcome was determined by a stand-up reception: in the last seconds, the Georgian made a catch from the inside and received a "skko". He narrowed the gap to 3:1, but the Georgian national team no longer had the right to make the next mistake.

Tamara Lischenko faced Nino Gulbani in the 70 kg category. The Russian, who won the European Sambo Championship in 2022, could not quickly seize the advantage: by the final minute Gulbani had two warnings, Lischenko had one. About 30 seconds before the end, the Russian caught her opponent on the counterattack and received a "sko". The Georgian did not have enough time left, and the fourth victory of the Russian national team completed the team final — 4:1.

The bronze medals in Belgrade went to Turkey and France. After losing to Russia, the Turkish team beat the hosts of the tournament, the Serbs, 4-1.

The award ceremony in Belgrade was held with Russian symbols. The International Judo Federation returned to athletes the right to compete under the national flag, with its anthem and national symbols on November 27, 2025. The Russians have already used these rights at the European Individual Championships in Tbilisi in the spring, and at the World Championships in Baku in the fall. After the victory over Georgia in Belgrade, the Russian tricolor was raised again at the ceremony and the Russian national anthem was performed — for the first time in seven years in honor of the winner of the European mixed teams championship.