Clarisse Agbegnenou storms to fifth European title in Prague

Clarisse Agbegnenou claimed her fifth European judo title in Prague on Friday (20 November).

The Frenchwoman needed just 23 seconds to defeat Magdalena Krssakova by ippon in the final after the Austrian stunned reigning Olympic champion Tina Trstenjak in the third round.

Trstenjak failed to come away with a medal as she went down to fellow Slovenian Andreja Leski in the repechage.

Elsewhere, Moldova's Victor Sterpu was a surprise victor in the men's -73kg beating Lasha Shavdatuashvili in the final with Rio 2016 silver medallist Rustam Orujov taking bronze and Olympic -66kg gold medallist Fabio Basile missing out on the medals.

READ: Clarisse Agbegnenou: "I am going to do everything to be Olympic champion"

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Five titles for Clarisse Agbegnenou

Rio 2016 silver medallist and world champ Clarisse Agbegnenou was utterly dominant as she continues her march towards her first Olympic title.

She won all four of her contests by ippon with Juul Ranssen of the Netherlands pushing her closest, the Frenchwoman winning with a minute left on the clock.

In the final, it was a powerful shoulder throw which accounted for Austria's Magdalena Krssakova.

It was a good for Poland's 21-year-old rising star Angelika Szymanska who showed plenty on the mat to make the repechage contest, but came up against an experienced judoka in Germany's 2019 world bronze medallist Martyna Trajdos.

Trajdos used all her experience to manage the time well after an early score and hold on for the win.

Ranssen took the other bronze against Slovenia's Andreja Leski, winning in golden score time when a tired Leski launched an illegal attack.

Victor Sterpu upsets the odds in men's -73kg

It was hard to tell if Victor Sterpu was crying with joy or wincing from the pain after his final victory by ippon over Georgia's Lasha Shavdatuashvili, but either way it was a momentous win for the Moldovan.

The unseeded 21-year-old took down London 2012 champion and Rio 2016 bronze medallist Shavdatuashvili just a week after winning the U23 European title.

Sterpu's success came as something of a surprise given the quality of the men who missed out on the final.

Azerbaijan's Rio silver medallist Orujov fell to Shavdatuashvili in the quarter-finals and looked like he might leave Prague empty-handed after conceding an early score to Switzerland's Nils Stump in their bronze medal encounter.

But Orujov turned it around with a spectacular throw for ippon to win the bronze.

Sweden's reigning European champion Tommy Macias had to settle for bronze this time after defeating Rio 2016 -66kg gold medallist Fabio Basile.

Macias fell to Stump in the quarter-finals, and then came up against Basile in the repechage decider after the Italian was beaten by Shavdatuashvili in the semi-finals in under a minute.

And it was Macias who claimed bronze after 1:36, sweeping Basile's leg for an ashi waza throw for ippon.

Judo 2020 European Championship Results

In the women's -70kg class, France's Margaux Pinoit defeated Dutchwoman Sanne Van Dijke in the final with a superb seoi nage shoulder throw after just 52 seconds.

Pinot's compatriot, world number one and pre-tournament favourite Marie-Eve Gahie, took bronze.

The men's -81kg final was also over quickly with Tato Grigalashvili getting the better of Bulgarian Ivaylo Ivanov.

Grigalashvili opened with an early throw for waza-ari and followed up almost immediately with an o uchi gari trip and throw for ippon to leave Ivanov stunned.

Like Sterpu, the Georgian had been victorious in the U23 European Championships last week in Porec, Croatia.

His compatriot Luka Maisuradze defeated Netherlands' Frank De Wit to take bronze with Matthias Casse winning the battle of Belgium against Sami Chouchi to also claim a bronze medal.