European Championships in Zagreb, double medal for Italian judo: bronze to Elios Manzi from Messina

Double medal for Italian judo on the first day of the European Championships in Zagreb thanks to silver by Odette Giuffrida in the category up to 52 kilograms and bronze by Elios Manzi in the 66 kg. The 29-year-old Roman judoka, already on the Olympic podium twice in Rio 2016 and Tokyo in 2021, was beaten in the final with a waza-ari by Kosovar Distria Krasniqi, world ranking leader and reigning Olympic champion. In the previous rounds Odette had defeated the Russian Glafira Borisova (neutral athlete), the Cypriot Sofia Asvesta and the Hungarian Pupp by ippon. For Manzi, 28 years old, from Messina, already a continental bronze medalist in 2016, the path on the tatamis of the Croatian capital was linear until the semi-final where he was defeated by the Turk Muhammed Demirel.