22 British Judoka Set to Compete at Graz and Sarajevo European Cups
May 29, 2026
Two British squads will be in action across Europe this weekend, with 19 athletes heading to the Sarajevo Senior European Cup and three judoka competing at the Graz Junior European Cup.
Sarajevo Senior European Cup
Nordine Adrif (Garioch JC), who will be looking to build on his recent fifth-place finish at the Algiers African Open last week, and Laurence Hill (Dragons Academy), who is also in strong form in May having secured gold at the Mandurah Junior Oceania Open alongside a fifth-place finish at the Mandurah Oceania Open, will both compete in the -60kg category.
The -66kg division will see James Gray (Destination Judo) compete in his second Senior European Cup of 2026, alongside Neil MacDonald (Ipswich JC), also appearing in his second event of the year, and Aiden Moffat (Tayside JC), who arrives in outstanding form having claimed consecutive gold medals at the Algiers African Open and Mandurah Oceania Open this month.
In the -73kg category, Cameron Charles (Camberley JC) comes into the event on the back of bronze medals at both the Casablanca African Open and Hong Kong Asian Open. He is joined by Akraman Hoshal (Palavani JC), competing in his first Senior European Cup and only his second European Cup, having last featured at the Birmingham Junior European Cup in 2023, and Daniel Pacitti (Jidel Judo 93), who will be looking to secure back-to-back medals following his bronze at the Algiers African Open last week.
Eryk Neumann (Hardy Spicer 83) will compete at -81kg, aiming to achieve his best result of 2026 in his second Senior European Cup appearance of the year.
At -90kg, Scott Cusack (Edinburgh Judo) competes in his third Senior European Cup of 2026, alongside Samuel Petgrave (Westcroft JC), who claimed fifth place in Riga earlier this year, and Jared Sey (Budokwai).
James Weller-Henry (Budokwai) will be the sole British representative in the +100kg category and will be looking to improve on his fifth-place finish at the Riga Senior European Cup earlier this year.
Eva Ewing (Edinburgh Judo) will be the lone competitor at -48kg. So far in 2026, she has competed in two European events, securing fifth place at the Sarajevo Junior European Cup and seventh in Kaunas.
In the -63kg division, Sunny Doig (Just Judo Yoshin) enters in strong form following a silver medal at the Gori Senior European Cup and a seventh-place finish in Riga. She is joined by Tomi Imrie (Jidel Judo 93) and Sophie Wood (Sportif).
Rounding out the squad in Sarajevo are Holly Devall (Dragons Academy), who has medalled in four consecutive events — gold at the Mandurah Oceania Open, bronze in Tunis, silver in Casablanca, and gold in Montreal — and Paige Keane (Dragons Academy), who will be competing in her first European Cup of the year in the -70kg category.
Graz Junior European Cup
Eden Heffernan (Pro Judo) will compete at -73kg, hoping to build on his last competitive appearance, where he narrowly missed out on a medal at the Kaunas Junior European Cup, finishing fifth, his best result at a European Cup to date. The experience of reaching a final block in Kaunas will stand him in good stead as he looks to secure a medal on this occasion.
Oriol Rubio Ruiz (Bradley Stoke JC) will take on the -81kg field in what will be his first international event of 2026, having last competed outside of the UK in February 2025.
Kate Chisholm (Judo Sensei London) will look to extend her excellent run of Junior European Cup form in the -52kg division. Over the past 12 months, the 18-year-old has competed at five Junior European Cups. Since May 2025, she has recorded a series of strong performances: fifth place in Kaunas, followed by another fifth-place finish in Birmingham, then seventh in Móstoles, before securing medals with silver in Poznań and most recently bronze at the Kaunas Junior European Cup last month.
Good luck to both squads!
