David Moura Is Silver Awarded and Brazil Ends Its Performance in the Grand Slam from Paris with Two Medals
Rafaela Silva won the bronze on Saturday. Maria Suelen Altheman ( +78 kg ) reaches the fight for bronze but she ends in the fifth place.
Again the Paris- Bercy Palais Omnisports Gym was crowded to see the best world judo athletes in the second and final day of the Grand Slam from Paris. But the biggest star was out of competition. The six-time world champion Teddy Riner who is recovering from an injury did not take part in the tournament. This was a good opportunity for David Moura and Rafael Silva who wanted to conquer a silver medal for Brazil in the last fight of the tournament which opened the World Circuit. After defeating three opponents, David was defeated in the decision by the Japanese Ryu Shichinohe.
\"Of course that I wanted to win the gold in the last fight! But I\'m happy with the performance I had today. I have been more serious in my fighting and I think that today I took a major step in this regard. Thanks to everyone who supported me and to my whole team, \"David said.
The athlete from Mato Grosso, current number 7 in the world, has already debuted in the eighth-finals with the victory over Daniel Allerstorfer (AUT). There, he defeated Renat Saidov (RUS) by yuko in the last minute of the fight. In the semifinals, he won over Faicel Jaballah by yuko, but in the decision he was eventually projected by ippon in the last 16 seconds of the fight.
Another Brazilian judoka who reached a fight for medal was the heavyweight Maria Suelen Altheman. She defeated Rebecca Ramanich by wazari and then she pinned her in the first fight. In the eighth-finals, she dominated the fight and made Franziska Konitz suffer four penalties and then she was eliminated. In the semifinals, she was defeated by Kanae Yamabe for having more punishments. In the fight for bronze, the Olympic and world champion Idalys Ortiz from Cuba imposed herself and left Suelen in the fifth place.
The other Brazilian judokas failed to reach the contention for medals. Maria Portela (70kg) defeated Anka Pogacnik (SLO) but could not resist Lucie Perrot (FRA). In the same category, Nadia Merli (70kg) was defeated by Juliane Robra (SWZ) right in her first fight.
Eduardo Santos (90kg) was defeated in the first fight by Iurii Panasenkov (RUS). Renan Nunes (100kg) also lost in his debut for Daniel Dichev (BUL) by hansuko-make (Four Shidos) . Hugo Pessanha ( 100kg ) defeated Delvert Clement ( FRA ) but in the eighth –finals he lost to the Dutch Henk Grol, who owns two bronze medals in the last two Olympics, because of having two punishments more than his opponent.
With David Moura’s silver and Rafaela Silva’s bronze, Brazil repeats last year\'s performance when Bruno Mendonça (73kg) was second and Victor Penalber (81kg) was third.
“We always expected a little more but we understand that we are starting our season now, unlike the Europeans. This championship was not our focus, it was the first event, studying the opponents, experiencing the new rules ... I think the turnout was positive and I\'m sure the team has the potential to go further, \"said Ney Wilson, the Performance Director of BJC.
The National Selection’s next appointment is the Oberwart European Open and the European Open from Rome from next weekend, February 15th and 16th. And on February 21st, 22nd and 23rd , the selection will compete in the Grand Prix from Dusseldorf .
