Second Place for Gabrieli Makhatadze
Montréal, February 14, 2026 – Canadian judoka Gabrieli Makhatadze (-55 kg) captured the silver medal at the Cadet European Cup in Šamorín, Slovakia, on Saturday.
Photo Archive International Judo Federation
Gabrieli Makhatadze in white
“It’s a fantastic medal, following a long day!” exclaimed Canadian coach Franck Moussima.
In the big final, Makhatadze was defeated by Bartlomiej Dobrowolski of Poland.
“He lost because he received three penalties, but he has every reason to be happy with the outcome,” said Moussima. “He had great results [today], and he scored some superb points. We saw some really good things from him.”
Makhatadze is currently ranked 20th in the world at the cadet level. “He’s been gaining experience, and now we’re starting to see the results of that!” noted the coach.
Roman Semyrozum (-60 kg) was limited to a single bout, after bowing out to Ido Zychlinski of Israel in his first round.
“He’s a judoka who makes a huge effort and works very hard. We would have preferred a different result today, but unfortunately, he lost,” explained Moussima.
Anes Mati (-66 kg) concluded the competition with one win and one loss.
“[Anes] was very disappointed, especially since he finished fifth at the most recent World Championships. He was favoured to do well here today, but unfortunately, he lost a fight that turned out to be very physically challenging,” said the coach.
In the women’s events, Christina Karas (-48 kg) lost her only fight of the day, while Ahniia Grebennikova (-52 kg) finished the tournament with one win and one loss.
“They would have liked to go further, but still, they gained a lot of valuable experience. In terms of the results they were hoping for and the expectations they had, it’s disappointing for them, but at the same time, it’s a learning curve that will allow them to improve for future events,” said Moussima.
Seventh place for Julien Frascadore
Quebec’s Julien Frascadore (-66 kg) delivered Canada’s best result on Saturday at the Senior European Cup in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
He began his day with two wins, before falling to Jeremic Matija of Serbia in the quarter-finals. In the repechage, he was defeated by Federico Ninfo of Italy.
In the under-73 kg weight category, Justin Lemire, Yanis Hachemi, and Frédéric de Cardaillac were limited to one bout each.
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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
For more information:
Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operating Officer
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p.esparbes@judocanada.org