The final of ISFA Europe Grappling Championship in Bitola, Macedonia saw two Bulgarian grapplers meet in the final of the absolute division. The tournament kicked off with the -75 kg. advanced division, where the heavy favorite was Bulgarian grappler Veselin Dukov. He cruised through with ease before meeting fellow countryman Ivan Iliev in the final. Iliev proved he was a worthy opponent but ultimately lost on points against one of best European lightweights.
In the -80 kg. division, Serbia’s Mirza Sendic submitted all of his opponents to become the ISFA welterweight champion. In the -85kg. division two time European NAGA champion and tournament favorite Kristian Popov met Valentin Timov and was able to come out on top, submitting Timov with a leg lock, although it is worth noting that Timov had previously damaged his leg. The win gave Popov the gold medal.
In the heavyweight division, local star Alexander Petkovski defeated Kostadin Vangelov in the semifinal and met Bulgarian giant Viktor Nikolov. The match was extremely close and could have gone either way, but in the end Nikolov managed to score points in the closing seconds of the contest and win the heavyweight gold.
The absolute division had two clear favorites from the start. In the quarterfinals Kristian Popov met Mirza Sendic and managed to get him to tap to a tight guillotine choke. In the semifinals he faced -90kg champion Iovan Sotirov. Sotirov showed his good level and power but was unable to defend against Popov’s inverted heel hook attacks. In the other side of the bracket, getting to the final wasn't easy for Veselin Dukov as he had to go through Viktor Nikolov and Valentin Timov to set up a showdown against Popov. The final was dynamic, as the heavier Popov was able to secure multiple takedowns throughout the course of the match, while Dukov was forced to stay on the bottom where he couldn’t mount any significant offense. Ultimately Kristian Popov defeated Veselin Dukov on points.
