Judo Euro: bronze, twice for Belgium!
Jorre Verstraeten (-60 kg) and Mina Libeer (-57 kg) launched the Judo Euro well for the Belgians. The Louvaniste celebrated his third medal at this level, the Gantoise, his first.
By Philippe Vande Weyer
Lings could hardly have started better for the Belgian judokas at the Euro in Sofia. This Friday, during the inaugural day, Jorre Verstraeten (IJF 9), in less than 60 kg, and Mina Libeer (IJF 17), in less than 57 kg, both won a bronze medal. Enough to motivate the rest of the band, mainly Matthias Casse and Sami Chouchi, who will be in lice this Saturday, in less than 81 kg.
For Verstraeten, this third place, the… third at this level after those already snatched from Minsk in 2019 and Prague in 2020, confirms that the Louvanist is indeed part of the European top in his category. But he was close to playing his first continental final since it was after 9min09 (!) in the gold score (13min09 of fight in total) that he bowed to penalties against the Bulgarian Gerchev (24) in the semi-finals.
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