Georgian judo team clinch another gold, bronze at Olympic Fest

Georgia's junior judo team snatched two more medals at the ongoing European Youth Olympic Festival in Hungary after Mariam Tchanturia and Vladimer Akhalkatsi claimed their share of success at the event on Thursday.

Following on the honours achieved by the team on Tuesday and Wednesday, Tchanturia triumphed in northwest Hungary's city Gyor by taking the gold medal of the 63kg category.

Facing Serbia's Anja Obradovic in the final, Tchanturia claimed the champion's title in the final seconds of the match and took the first medal for Georgian female athletes at the tournament.

Tchanturia faced Serbia's European champion Anja Obradovic in the final. Photo: European Judo Union.

I wanted to be the champion here today. I know that Obradovic was the European champion but I wanted to do my best and win against her. When the time was up in the final I felt really happy and was so proud to be a Georgian judoka on the mat", the young athlete told reporters following her win.

On the 81kg category side for boys, Akhalkatsi conceded his quarterfinal fixture before continuing his quest for a medal via the repechage system, which allows athletes who lost our narrowly to stay in the competition.

The young judoka won all three of his subsequent fixtures, taking the bronze for Georgia.

Vladimer Akhalkatsi scored three wins in three matches in repechage to claim the bronze. Photo: Georgian National Olympic Committee.

Levan Psuturi (73kg) andTinatin Revazishvili (57kg) were also in contention in Thursday's program, with the former narrowly missing out on a bronze.

The final day of judo competitions at the European Youth Olympic Festival will see three more athletes from the Georgian team face their opposition today.

Sopio Somkhishvili will carry the banner of the team's female athletes in the 73kg category, while Mikheil Bekauri (90kg) and Levan Tchelidze (100kg) will also be on the mat.