Yehonatan Veksler Wins European U23 Judo Gold; Ilay Hayun Takes Bronze

Yehonatan Veksler won the men’s under-60 kg title and Ilay Hayun took bronze in the women’s under-52 kg category at the European Under-23 Judo Championships in Naples, Italy, on Friday, October 30. The two medals came on the opening day of the competition, with Veksler winning his final and Hayun coming through the repechage to reach the podium. Veksler began in the second round, beating Ukraine’s Oleksandr Klepinin on penalties. He then defeated Armenia’s Vahe Aghasyan in the quarterfinal and Georgia’s Luka Gadelia in the semifinal, winning each contest with a yuko advantage. In the final against Italy’s Pietro Andreini, Veksler scored a waza-ari and protected his lead until the end to secure the European title. Hayun opened with an ippon victory over Ukraine’s Tatiana Limchaieva before losing her quarterfinal to Serbia’s Bojana Savic. She returned through the repechage, defeating Georgia’s Tatrishvili by ippon. In the bronze-medal contest, she beat Ukraine’s Marharyta Miroshnichenko with an ippon from a hold-down, completing her route back to a medal after the quarterfinal defeat. National-team head coach Shani Hershko congratulated both athletes and their coaching teams, calling the results “an excellent achievement for the team.” He praised Veksler’s ability, determination and competitive maturity, and commended Hayun’s performances and character during her medal-winning run.