Judoka Pogačnik wins European bronze in women’s 70kg

Sofia – Slovenian judoka Anka Pogačnik won the bronze medal in the women’s 70kg category at the European Judo Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Saturday, her first medal in major competitions. In the decisive fight, she defeated Hilde Jager of the Netherlands after three penalties.

The 30-year-old Slovenian lost in the quarter-finals to Sanne van Dijke of the Netherlands, the bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics and last year’s world championships.

Van Dijke defeated Pogačnik with an ippon right before the end of regulation and won the silver medal later on, while the Slovenian beat Kelly Peterson Pollard of the UK in the repechage to earn the bronze medal match with a waza-ari.

Facing Jager in the bronze medal match, Pogačnik showed all her technical skills to beat the physically stronger Dutch opponent, who collected three penalties to earn a disqualification.

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