Bulgaria finished in the Top 3 in the total medal standings of the Prague European Open 2022 which took place this past weekend.
Bulgaria’s judo team was represented by 14 competitors with Ivaylo Ivanov (-9 kg) and Mark Hristov (-73 kg) winning their divisions with an authority.
That was Ivanov’s international debut in this division, as he was competing in the -81 kg category all his life. Ivaylo defeated judokas from France, Austria and Estonia. In the final he outclassed Peter Zilka from Slovakia via Ippon.
Hristov was on fire fight from the get-go. Mark defeated a Spaniard, a Czech and a French judoka in order to get to the semis. Then he beat Adam Stodolski from Poland and Italy’s Luigi Centracchio in the final.
A total of 20 countries won medals at the tournament, with Germany staying on top with four gold medals, one silver and five bronzes. France came in second place with two gold medals, three runner-ups and one bronze medalist.