Čakovec Judokas Dazzle Sweden: Vrbanec Crowned World Champion
Judo Club Zrinski Čakovec achieved a historic success at the World Championship for People with Down Syndrome in Lindesberg, winning a total of four medals.
Judo Club Zrinski Čakovec achieved a historic success at the World Championship for People with Down Syndrome in Lindesberg, winning a total of four medals.
Croatian judo experienced a shining moment in Lindesberg, Sweden. At the World Championship for People with Down Syndrome, the Judo Down World Championship, representatives of Judo Club Zrinski Čakovec, Nenad Vrbanec and Mateo Holjevac, won an impressive four medals. Vrbanec claimed gold in the individual competition, while Holjevac took bronze, and both added to their success by winning team bronze in the mixed team event.
Twelve countries competed at the championship: Bulgaria, Croatia, Portugal, Turkey, Iceland, Argentina, Japan, Sweden, Georgia, Finland, Poland, and Great Britain. Croatia's colors were defended by Vrbanec in the under 90 kg category and Holjevac in the under 73 kg category, under the watchful eye of coach Filip Šeketa.
Mateo Holjevac was the first to step onto the tatami and immediately showed impressive form. He successively defeated Franco Mussolini of Argentina, Oliver Trepiński of Poland, and Mikko Niskanen of Finland. These three wins took him to the semifinals, where he was stopped by Turkey's Ahmet Unal. With a record of three wins and one loss, Holjevac won the bronze medal and third place in the world.
This is his first world medal under the SUDS organization in JudoDown, coming after he claimed the European champion title at the same venue in Lindesberg last year. This once again confirmed that he belongs at the very top of his category.
Nenad Vrbanec had an even more challenging path to the top. In his very first bout, he faced the reigning world champion, Paulo Lemos of Portugal. Vrbanec executed a tactically flawless match and defeated the title defender. In the next match, he beat Erik Weyand of Iceland and, with two wins, deservedly took the gold medal and the world champion title.
With this gold, Vrbanec completed his impressive collection of international medals. At the 2019 World Championship in Guimarães, Portugal, he won silver, as he did in 2022 in Madeira. In 2023, he became European champion in Italy, and now in Sweden, he finally reached the brightest of them all - world gold.
The successes did not stop at individual performances. On the second day of the championship, the team competition took place, with nine countries participating. Vrbanec and Holjevac joined forces with Bulgarian representative Bozhidara Angelova in the mixed team. Their result is particularly significant because they competed with only three members, although a mixed team can have up to five competitors.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, they achieved three victories. Georgia (3:2), Finland (3:2), and Great Britain (3:2) fell in succession, while they were defeated by Poland with the same score. That performance was enough for a brilliant third place and another bronze medal. Thus, Vrbanec finished the championship with individual gold and team bronze, while Holjevac took individual and team bronze.
Coach Filip Šeketa was proud of his athletes, emphasizing the years of work and discipline.
"It's hard to put into words how proud I am of the boys. They truly live judo. They train hard, listen, respect agreements, and are a real example of how athletes should behave. That's why I'm especially glad when all their effort pays off in this way,"said Šeketa.
He also highlighted the broader value of such events.
"This is much more than a competition and medals. It's wonderful to see how much all the competitors respect, cheer for, and support each other, regardless of which country they come from. It's even nicer to see that such major international competitions are organized for people with Down syndrome, where they have the opportunity to show how much they can do, compete with athletes from around the world, and show how much sport means to them,"he added.
Judo Club Zrinski Čakovec has been part of this organization since the end of 2018, and Šeketa notes that they now traditionally return with medals.
"We joined this organization at the end of 2018, and we can be extremely happy that we return from every major competition with a medal around our necks. But it's important to emphasize that these medals are not something to be taken for granted. It's not easy to achieve a world or European medal. Here, we watched excellent athletes from Argentina, Poland, Portugal, Georgia, and other countries who gave their all and still ended up without an individual medal. That's exactly why we should appreciate even more what Mateo and Nenad achieve,"Šeketa said.
In conclusion, the coach noted that the medals are just the crowning achievement.
"The most important thing is that they are happy and enjoy what they do. The medals are a reward for all the training, travel, and effort they put in. Nenad became world champion, Mateo won his first world medal in this organization, and then together, in a weakened mixed team, they also won team bronze. We can only be proud of them. They represented Judo Club Zrinski Čakovec, Čakovec, Međimurje, and Croatia in the best possible way,"said Šeketa.
