Moldova vs France
The opening round saw Moldova face France. The latter fielded five of the six spots, giving Moldova a one-point head start. Still, France stormed back with three straight wins. Then came the J1M -70 kg clash between Armindo Rodrigues and Alexandr Ursul. France was one step away from sealing the first team win of the day and Rodrigues did just that, with a decisive tomoe-nage in only 25 seconds.
Georgia vs Italy
The home crowd roared as Georgia faced Italy, starting 2-0 up since Italy had only four judoka. Zurab Zurabiani secured the third point with a spectacular uchi-mata. That left Italy under pressure but Dong Dong Camanni delivered, scoring a waza-ari just 15 seconds in, then doubled his effort to give Italy hope. The ‘pressure baton’ passed to Simone Cannizzaro but Levan Gugava took control with a ko-uchi-gari for waza-ari before countering Cannizzaro’s uchi-mata to seal Georgia’s win.
Moldova vs Türkiye
Moldova returned to face Türkiye, starting 2-0 ahead as Türkiye also brought only four athletes. Nicolai Bondarev scored waza-ari with a drop seoi-nage but Hidayet Sevinic snatched the win with a fast shime-waza. Türkiye then equalised and soon led 3-2 through Recep Ciftci’s efforts. Moldova’s Ion Basoc evened the score, forcing a golden score draw. Fate intervened when the drawn category was J1M -81 kg, a division Türkiye had no athlete for. Moldova advanced automatically.
France vs Georgia
Next came the showdown many had circled: France vs Georgia. Georgia began with a one-point lead due to France having five athletes in their make team. The heavyweight duel between European champions Helios Latchoumanaya (-95kg, FRA) and Revaz Chikoidze (+95kg, GEO) electrified the crowd. Despite the size gap, Latchoumanaya powered through to score France’s first point. Rodrigues added another with a dazzling tomoe-nage, but Bachuki Shelia pulled Georgia level.
It was 2-2 when Cyril D. Jonard (FRA) edged Ramini Kipshidze (GEO) out. Then Giorgi Kaldani reminded everyone why he is world champion, throwing with uchi-mata and de-ashi-harai to bring it back level. The golden score draw again fell on J1M -81 kg, where France had no competitor. Georgia claimed the victory.
The atmosphere was electric. Many felt this was the unofficial final and Georgia’s celebrations suggested they knew it too.
Final Rounds
Italy and Türkiye then clashed, with only two actual contests possible. Türkiye won it 4-2. Georgia powered past Moldova 4-1 and France followed with a 4-1 win over Italy. The table began to settle, bronze seemingly within Moldova’s grasp.
Finally, Georgia faced Türkiye, needing a win to secure the title. Against expectations, Türkiye took the first two points, tying the score at 2-2. Giorgi Kaldani was tested fully by Recep Ciftci but pulled through. That left Hidayet Sevinc to keep Turkish hopes alive against European champion Revaz Chikoidze. In just 27 seconds, Chikoidze sealed the deal though. Georgia was then officially crowned 2025 IBSA European Team Champions! France took silver and Moldova indeed secured bronze.
Today’s event was nothing short of extraordinary. Teams carried one another, literally, on the mat, embodying the very spirit of unity. With that, the curtain closes on the 2025 IBSA European Championships in Tbilisi. Next stop: the IBSA Asian Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, 7–9 November 2025.