Iñaki Baztán Merchán has managed to place himself among the top seven in the Junior European Judo Cup. The young judoka from Club Coliseum, who has recently been joined by the Javier de la Marta club from Badajoz, has competed in the Croatian city of Rijeka in the -81kg category.
Baztán, who today continues his training at the CAR in Madrid, arrived at the Junior European Cup in his best moment of form after becoming Spanish champion in the same category.
The judoka competes at the same time in the junior and senior categories. To reach the next level and have access to European and World Championships, the Extremaduran needs two medals. He didn’t have it easy in Rijeka. After losing the first fight, he had to climb positions in the repechage.
In his first fight he lost to the Ukrainian Mohamed Khakimov, who ended up taking silver in the tournament. At that moment, Baztán went down to the repechage box and started rowing to try to get among the finalists.
Along the way, Iñaki had to face two Italians. Tomasso Perfetti and Pietro Salvetti were not a problem for the judoka from the Badajoz club, who showed his high level in the first two rounds of the repechage.
In the third round of the playoffs, Croatian Luka Zorotovic awaited him. Baztán was ahead throughout the fight. However, a mistake in the moments caused him to lose all the advantage and he could not overcome the Croatian.
Finally, Iñaki Baztán had to settle for seventh position. A great performance, but insufficient for Baztán who needs two great results to be able to take another step in his career and compete with the best.
2024-05-09 14:58:27
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