Brazil Wins All Fights and Takes the Title of the International Contest against Italy
The event was the first test of the new Pan American Judo Center located in Lauro de Freitas (BA)
A great opening marked the first test event of the new Pan American Judo Center located in Lauro de Freitas (BA). The building hosted on Sunday the International Contest Brazil vs Italy. The Brazilians had a perfect performance, winning all the five fights of the mixed duel, three of them being by ippon.
First to enter the mat, Mayara Oliveira (52kg) from Bahia defeated Francesca Posocco (52kg) by wazari after a tough struggle. The half-lightweight Brazilian fought at home and had a warm welcome from the fans of Bahia. "I was a little nervous," she says. "I've never fought a first fight at home, with everyone around. It's a lot of emotion and I am very happy with this opportunity."
Marcelo Contini (73kg) had a balanced fight with Leonardo Casaglia, but with a wazari and a yuko, increased Brazil's advantage by 2 to 0. After this, Mariana Silva (63kg) decided the dispute by applying an ippon to the Italian Chiara Carminucci (63kg).
"It was a balanced fight, I managed to finish it on soil, which is a thing I have been training hard and I was very happy to have helped the team win", analyzed the judoka from Minas before praising PJC’s building. "It's very pleasant to be here fighting for the first time in this training center, which is a great privilege. I was very happy with the facilities here. We must thank all the sponsors as well as BJC for their care towards the Brazilian athletes. Due to these facilities, I am sure that the Brazilian judo will evolve.”
Despite three guaranteed wins, Eduardo Bettoni (90kg) and Rochelle Nunes (+ 70kg) did not slow the pace in the final fights, thus they defeated Davide Pozzi (90kg) and Debora Sala (+70kg), respectively, both by ippon, closing the score 5-0.
The coach of the Italian team, Laura Di Toma, thanked for the opportunity to attend the event and praised the importance of this experience for her athletes.
"We brought a very young team but who has already achieved interesting junior results. It was a very great opportunity to gain experience. They are not used to this kind of competition and they were very happy and excited, "she said." I want to thank to the Brazilian Judo Confederation who gave us this opportunity, especially to these young people. The whole organization deserves congratulations. "
Approved Training Center
Attending the event together with other leaders of the Pan-American judo, the President of the BJC, Paulo Wanderley Teixeira, approved the test of the new training structure. "The idea of the event was testing our Training Center. I believe that in this first assessment, it passed the test," he said.
The vice-president of the Brazilian Judo Confederation, John Rocha, described the moment as a historic one: "We are changing the axis of judo. We used to travel abroad in order to improve our sport and now other countries come here, not only for technical reasons, but also for these modern facilities."
This structure, which will be home for the Brazilian judo and the Pan-American one and which will integrate the National Training Network, provides the most modern sport facilities: air-conditioned gym for training and competitions, accommodation for up to 72 athletes, an auditorium for 200 people, a gym, a restaurant, a semi-Olympic swimming pool, a 18x36 sqm sports court, support rooms and 1,900 seat-bleachers.
The delegations will be staying in Lauro de Freitas until next Wednesday, December 3rd, for the training camp. BJC will also organize the National Selective for the Cadet and Junior categories from December 4th to December 8th. 800 athletes aged from 15 to 20 will fight for a position in the cadet and junior teams.
A part of the senior team stays in Bahia while another one boards on Sunday for the Grand Slam of Tokyo, an event that closes the international calendar 2014.
