Kajzer wins European judo silver for best career result
Lisbon, 16 April - Slovenian judoka Kaja Kajzer won the silver medal in the women's 57kg category at the European Judo Championships in Portugal's Lisbon on Friday. The 21-year-old had to concede to Telma Monteiro from the host nation in an extra session in the finals.
Baku, Azerbaijan
Slovenian judoka Kaja Kajzer.
Photo: Aleksander Gasser/STA
File photo
In what is the greatest career achievement so far for the Ljubljana native, Kajzer was on the verge of sensation as she put up a good fight against the bronze-medallist from the last Summer Olympic Games almost to the very end.
Monteiro, who is 14 years senior to Kajzer, managed to make a decisive throw 39 seconds into the extra session to win her sixth European championships gold medal. The Portuguese veteran also has five medals from world championships.
Kajzer suffered an injury at the end of the match, which is very unfortunate as the Slovenian had already missed most of the previous seasons to an injury.
Another Slovenian, Maruša Štangar, was in the fight for medals in the women's 48kg category, but conceded in the bronze medal match to Russia's Sabina Giliazova to settle for the fifth place.