From the special reporter "Vijesti"
Tel Aviv - Long after the match, Nikola Gardašević cried, there were no words of comfort that would stop his tears. Above him, in silence, coach Hubert Rorauer patted him on the head...
The first big chance for Montenegro to win a medal at the 14th European Under-23 Championship in Tel Aviv was lost.
More precisely, two chances - after losing to local competitor Tohar Butbul in the fight for the finals of the category up to 73 kg, Gardašević was defeated in the match for bronze by pin after a minute and 37 seconds of the fight by the representative of Kosovo, Akilo Đakova. It was a moment of inattention, carelessness on the ground floor, at the moment when he was in the lead because his opponent had two penalties and Nikola had one...
"This cannot be endured. It's the second time that I miss two chances for a medal at the European Championship. This defeat hurts more than the previous one," Gardašević said through tears.
He was brilliant until the semi-finals. He routinely defeated Dan Burlak from Moldova and Milan Nikolić from Serbia, and then with a fantastic Ipon in the quarter-finals he was better than the Italian Andrea Gizmondo, and that at the moment when he was two yards behind... It seemed then that the medal was practically in his pocket...
"I told him not to cry, to raise his head because that's how you become a man. He was better, he moved better, he has a better technique, but then he practically gifted the victory to his opponent. It was the only way for Đakova to win the match. that one was "offered" to him by Nikola. I think he realistically couldn't make it to the final because Butbul is stronger at the moment, but he had to win the bronze," said coach Rorauer.
Two more of our fighters performed today. Also in the category up to 73 kg, Balša Sinanović lost by ipon to the Lithuanian Motiejus Čalka, after convincingly leading with juke and vazari.
In the category up to 66 kg, Marko Gušić was free in the first round, in the second he defeated the Dutchman Roj Šiper, and in the third he was defeated by the German Manuel Šiber. Considering that it is only the first year of junior competition, he left a very solid performance.
The rest of the Montenegrin national team will perform tomorrow. Jovana Peković has Hungarian Sabina Geršak as her opponent in the category up to 70 kg. In the category up to 81 kg, Ars Milić's first rival is Alfonso Urkiza Solana from Spain, in the category up to 90 kg, Marko Bubanja will fight against the excellent Georgian Ušangi Margijani, while in the category up to 100 kg, Danilo Pantić will meet Belarus in the first match Viktor Larčanka.
"I don't know my rival, but my half of the skeleton is extremely strong, almost all the best fighters are in it. But, we worked well on the preparations, I'm ready and I hope I can achieve a good result," said Arso Milić.
The selector Rorauer hopes the same.
"Tomorrow, our greatest trumps will perform. Marko Bubanja has the toughest opponent, but in order to achieve a top result, he must get the best fighters. The same is the case with Danilo Pantić, but also with everyone else. Although I do not set a medal as a goal, I am interested in development of our competitors, I think we have a chance to win the medal and I hope we will," Rorauer concluded.
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