Tbilisi countdown: chaos potential at -63 kg, and a loaded -81 kg grudge match

With only days left until the Senior European Judo Championships Tbilisi 2026, the women’s -63 kg and men’s -81 kg divisions are already buzzing. Both categories look stacked with recent champions, Olympic medalists, and the kind of draw details that can flip a tournament in minutes.

At -63 kg, Paris bronze medallist Laura Fazliu (KOS) arrives as a real threat, but the top seed is 2024 world champion Joanne van Lieshout (NED). Europe’s headline, though, is Renata Zachová (CZE): the reigning European champion and winner of the last two editions (2024 and 2025). The twist is that Zachová comes in unseeded, making an early heavyweight clash a genuine possibility.

One bad draw in -63 kg could turn the first round into a final.

There’s depth everywhere. Carlotta Avanzato (ITA) is back alongside Zachová and van Lieshout from last year’s podium, while top-10 names like Iva Oberan (CRO) and Manon Deketer (FRA) add even more danger. On paper it points toward a three-way fight between Zachová, Fazliu and van Lieshout, and their recent head-to-head results only underline how tight the margins are.

Men’s -81 kg is the division where rivalry feels like the default setting. Home favourite Tato Grigalashvili (GEO), the Paris 2024 silver medallist, carries huge expectation in Tbilisi. Across from him stands European star Matthias Casse (BEL), a Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist and a former European champion in this weight. Add defending European champion Timur Arbuzov (RUS) and multiple past title winners returning, and the bracket reads like a repeat of elite battles.

In -81 kg, nothing is gifted—every exchange is earned.

Keep an eye on Mihajlo Simin (SRB) too: junior European champion in 2025, junior world bronze medallist, and already a Grand Prix gold medallist in Lima 2025, with additional IJF World Tour bronzes this season. The medals in Tbilisi will be decided on 17 April (-63 kg) and 18 April (-81 kg), and both days promise pressure you can almost hear.

Source: EJU_News