Expectations were high as Sagi Muki had already won two European championships in 2015 and in 2018, and he was one of the top contenders to win the Olympic Games in Tokyo this year. But in February’s Grand Slam, held in Tel-Aviv, Muki was eliminated in the first round. Comparatively, he did well in this competition, defeating the Icelander Ernie Lund, and ,following that, he had a difficult match against the Austrian Shmil Borashvili.
In the semi-final match, Muki faced off against the Portuguese Anri Agotidza. They both took two penalties after a little over two minutes, though Muki lost in the end and was placed in the consolation bracket, where he faced off against the Russian Aslan Lapinagov, and then against the Hungarian Ibailo Ivonov to win the bronze medal.
Butbul, on the other hand, won the bronze medal in Tel Aviv in February, and now secured his first medal in the European Championship. The one who took away his chance to win either first or second place in Tel Aviv was the Romanian Alexandro Raiko, ranked 30th in the world, who defeated him in the quarter finals. On Friday, Tohar gained revenge when took the victory against Raiko.
In the semi-finals, he competed against Turkish opponent Bilal Ciloglu, who was a gold medalist from the Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi that took place in 2019. Following that he fought against Akil Jakuba from Kosovo, who had eliminated Idan Levin from the competition earlier, with Jakuba managing to take the victory in the end.