The European Judo U23 Championships, which started Friday, November 20, in the Turkish city of Antalya, saw the Moldovan team kick off on the wrong foot. Octavian Nacu (60 kg) was eliminated from the first round by Vugar Shirinli of Azerbaijan. Victor Skvortsov (66 kg) defeated Lithuanian Vytautas Skilinskas, but lost in the next round to Rok Draksic of Slovenia, who became European champion. Other Moldovan athletes – Iurie Leu (73 kg), Alexandru Gaina (81 kg), Ivan Remarenco (90 kg) and Stanislav Cernega (100 kg) – are to enter the competition on Saturday and Sunday. The competition brought together 276 athletes from 40 European countries.