Brazil Gets Two More Medals on the Second Day of the GP from Qingdao

Eduardo Katsuhiro (73kg) and Vinicius Panini (81kg) got the bronze in China. The tournament ends this Friday, when four more Brazilians step on the mat.

The young team representing Brazil in Qingdao Grand Prix until this Friday brought us two more medals on the second day of the tournament. Eduardo Katsuhiro defeated João Pedro Macedo in the decision for bronze in the lightweight category (73kg) and got the medal. The same result was obtained by Vinicius Panini among his half-middleweight counterparts. In the fight for medal, Panini defeated the Chinese Xuewen Wang by ippon.

“I feel very well! I targeted the gold medal but the Grand Prix was a difficult contest to which more experiences athletes run participated. I was glad I could fight four times against Asian and European judokas having a style different from mine. This helped me a lot.  I could not defeat Sergiu Toma, but it was important to fight against one of the top judokas of this category. Now I have to prepare myself better for the next challenge, \"said Panini, who defeated the Korean Won Jung Jun by wazari and Alexander Wieczerzak ( GER ) by wazari and yuko. In the semifinal, he could not defeat Sergiu Toma (UAE). In the contest for bronze, he defeated the Chinese Xuewen Wang by the “perfect shot “.

Among the lightweight athletes, Eduardo Katsuhiro won over the Chinese Hemubatu Eripor by a wazari and afterwards, he defeated the South-Korean Hae Joo Jung by ippon. In the semifinal, he was defeated by the German Igor Wandtke, who would eventually become the champion among his category counterparts, and this entitled João Pedro Macedo the bronze. The fight was well-balanced and Katsuhiro ended up winning by two yukos.

\"It\'s not confortable fighting against athletes from the same country as ours, but we have faced each other several times by now. Off the mat friendship and respect are more important than anything else, but on it each one tries to give one’s best. This is one of the reasons than make me consider the fight excellent. I know I have done my best, \"said Katsuhiro.

Before coming to fight for bronze, João Pedro Macedo had won the Chinese Shuai Sun by ippon, but in the key decision he was defeated by Victor Scvortov (UAE). In the repechage, he won over Khishigbayar Buuveibaatar for having fewer penalties.

Regarding the women’s team, Brazil reached two disputes for bronze, but it had no luck. In the middleweight category, Barbara Timo started by defeating the Mongol Tserenkhand Tsendsuren in the first fight for having less penalties, but she lost in the semifinals to Fei Chen (CHN), who would become the champion of the GP. In the fight for bronze, another setback against Ekaterina Denisenkova from Russia; the latter judoka defeated afterwards the other Brazilian judokas of the category because she won over Nadia Merli as well in the first fight of the repechage, eliminating the dispute.

Ana Carla Grincevicus (63kg) won over the Chinese Yamei Zhu by ippon, but in the key decision she lost to Martyna Trajdos (GER). In the first fight of the repechage, she defeated Ya – Jau Chang (TPE) for having fewer penalties. However, in the contest for bronze, she was defeated by the Chinese Chi Cuijuan.

“I think the competition is a great laboratory for this young team. The determination showed by everyone fighting makes us believe they will be further internationally recognized. Some of our defeats were caused by a mere lack of experience in this type of competition. I believe that Rafaela is playing an important role in this respect, leading the team, \"said the Performance Manager from BJC and head of delegation, Amadeu Moura.

On Friday, Brazil will have four more representatives. Eduardo Gonçalves ( 90kg ) faces Jun Zhang ( CHN ) in the first round. Among half-heavyweight athletes, Rafael Buzacarini (100kg) waits for the winner of Hecl Radek ( CZE ) and Dongming Zhao (CHN) and Isadora Pereira (78kg) faces Xin Li ( CHN ) in their first clash . Last but not least, the Brazilian athlete who will step on the mat in Qingado is the heavyweight Gabriel Santos (+100 kg), fighting against Shuo Wang (CHN).