Brazilian Judokas End Their Participation in Zagreb and Head to Azerbaijan for the Grand Slam of Baku
Eduardo Bettoni (90kg) and Rafael Buzacarini (100kg) fought on Sunday, but they didn’t get in the fight for medal during the Grand Prix of Zagreb.
Eduardo Bettoni (90kg) and Rafael Buzacarini (100kg), two of the ten judokas who represented Brazil this weekend at the Grand Prix of Zagreb, Croatia, entered the mat on Sunday, 03rd, as the last Brazilian participation in the competition, but they failed to reach the fight for medals. Therefore, the team composed of young Brazilian talents, except for the veteran Leandro Guilheiro (81kg) come back from Croatia with the fifth place won by Phelipe Pelim (60kg) on Friday, 01st.
Bettoni had a good start by winning the first fight against the Israeli Li Kochman after making him suffer four penalties and be eliminated. In the second round, the Brazilian made a harsh battle against the experienced Dutchman Guillaume Elmont, world champion in Cairo in 2005, and ended up losing due to a difference of punishment (3-2).
The half-heavyweight Rafael Buzacarini, who used to have good results in the previous competitions of this year, such as a gold medal in the Pan American Open of Santiago and the silver award in the European Open of Warsaw, couldn’t repeat the good performances and soon fell in the first fight due to an ippon applied by the Austrian Christoph Kronberger.
Now Nathália Brígida (48kg), Marcelo Contini (73kg), Rafael Buzacarini (100kg) and Leandro Guilheiro (81kg) who were in Zagreb, head to Azerbaijan, where they will join Sarah Menezes (48kg), Erika Miranda (52kg ), Rafaela Silva (57kg), Mariana Silva (63kg), Ketleyn Quadros (63kg), Maria Portela (70kg), Barbara Timo (70kg), Samanta Spares (78kg) and Rochelle Nunes (+ 78kg) in the Grand Slam Baku held next weekend.
