the scoreboards of the Italians. Overall negative draw, albeit with some exceptions – OA Sport

Eve day of the European Judo Championships 2022 which coincides as usual with the ceremony of draw of the scoreboards of all fourteen weight categories scheduled between Friday 28 April and Sunday 1 May on the mats of the Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria. Overall little benevolent urn in a blue key, especially for those who were not part of the ranks of the top seeds, even if there are some exceptions. Let’s go and discover the possible path of the Italian judoka in the first continental review of the new Olympic cycle towards Paris 2024.

We start from the women’s 48 kg and therefore from one of the most anticipated races of the Bulgarian three-day for the Bel Paese, with Francesca Milani (n.5 del seeding) e Assunta Scutto (n.7, reigning junior world champion) who could challenge the Spanish Julia Figueroa and the Portuguese Catarina Costa to the quarter-finals respectively. Two very formidable but not unbeatable opponents for our standard bearers, placed in the two opposite halves of the board.

Easy debut on the card and challenging quarter-final against the British Chelsie Giles instead in the 52 kg for Odette Giuffrida, which would in any case start with the favors of the prediction in that context and also in a possible semifinal (there are at least three possible rivals on the horizon), while waiting for her at the last act there would probably be one between the French Amandine Buchard and the Kosovar Distria Krasniqi. In both cases, the best Odette would be needed to climb back to the top of Europe after Prague 2020. Road blocked in the second round (by Buchard) instead for Martina Castagnola, who will still play her chances in the first round with the Portuguese Joana Diogo.

Judo, European Championships 2022: Italy’s medal hopes. No favorites, but many possible podium cards

70 kg nightmare draw for the 30-year-old rookie Irene Pedrottiforced to immediately face the former n.1 in the world and French world champion Marie Eve Gahie, while Martina Esposito he can target the second round with the possibility of fighting as an underdog with the strong British Kelly Petersen Pollard.

All-uphill path for both blue women engaged in 78 kg: Alice Bellandi in fact she will make her debut against an opponent in great shape like the Dutch Natascha Ausma and then eventually enter into a collision course with the great French favorite Madeleine Malonga, while Giorgia Stangherlin will have to overcome already in the second round an almost insurmountable obstacle represented by the n.3 in the world Luise Malzahn. Quarter-final goal (and therefore repechage) within reach in +78 kg by Asya Tavano, who caught the affordable Lithuanian Sandra Jablonskyte in the first round.

Extremely penalizing extraction in the male field for Angelo Pantano (60 kg), which sees on the horizon a possible nightmare eighth final against the phenomenal Georgian Lukhumi Chkhvimiani (European and world gold in 2019). Top8 difficult to reach even for Elios Manzi and Mattia Miceli in the 66 kg, both inserted in segments of the scoreboard led by athletes accustomed to getting on the podium in the World Tour.

I walk full of pitfalls in the 73 kg also for Fabio Basile, one of the few who will also have to play the preliminary round, which will have the hard task of defeating the Azerbaijani Hidayat Heydarov in the round of 16 in order to hope for a medal. Thrilling eighth in sight in the same category also for Giovanni Esposito against the n.1 in the world ranking Lasha Shavdatuashvili.

Easy first meeting but already very complicated round of 32 for Giacomo Gamba and Antonio Esposito, called to a great feat against the n.7 (Frank De Wit) and the n.3 in the world (Vedat Albayrak) to access the second round and thus approach the Final Block. Thorny debut in the 90 kg of Christian Parlati against the well-known Serbian Nemanja Majdov, but if successful, a possible arrival in the quarter-finals with the Hungarian Krisztian Toth would be on the horizon. Maximum goal of eighths instead for the young rookie Gennaro Pirelli, paired with the Hungarian Roland Goz in the first round.

Photo: IJF