Christopher Velazco won a bronze medal in the -60kg division on the first day of the Sofia European Open. He had a tough first match, against Alexandru Tirsina (MDA) who very nearly pinned him during regular time. However, Velazco managed to score yuko with a drop sode-tsurikomi-goshi in Golden Score. He then lost by yuko to Charlie Ayre (GBR) who threw him with a sumi-gaeshi off the ground moments before the match ended. In the repechage, Velazco defeated Emirhan Karahan (TUR) with a hikikomi-gaeshi off the ground which scored yuko. This took him into the bronze medal contest where he countered an osaekomi turnover attempt by Ben Tamary (ISR) and managed to pin him for ippon.
Daniel Liubimovski got a silver medal in the -100kg division on Day 2 of the competition. He won his first match with a sasae-tsurikomi-ashi for yuko against Ozan Kazel (TUR). A kata-guruma for yuko got him past Rares Arsenie (ROU). An ura-nage counter for ippon against Cedric Olivar (FRA) thrust him into the final. There, he lost to Boris Georgiev (BUL) who threw him with a yoko-tomoe-nage for yuko in the dying seconds of their match.
