Eleudis Valentim Gets the Bronze in Tashkent GP
Brazil won a medal on the first day of the Grand Prix of Tashkent. Eleudis Valentim took the bronze by defeating the Belgian Ilse Heylen in the golden score due to her counterpart being punished. And the athlete from Pinheiros had a tough path before reaching the fight for medal. She won three fights in the competition before the final one. In the contention against the Russian Anastasia Polikarpova and the Israeli Gili Cohen, head-key number 3 of the competition, the Brazilian managed to dominate the fight within the regular time. But in the first fight of the repechage, she entered the golden score and her rival, the German Romy Tarangul ended up being punished and the victory went thus to Brazil. In the quarter-finals, Eleudis was applied an ippon by the Portuguese Joana Ramos.
The other Brazilians who fought on Thursday could not reach the final block. Gabriela Chibana (48kg) made a hard fight against the Turkish Sumeyye Akkus but she was eventually defeated for having more punishments. Nathália Brigida (48kg) got a yuko on Ebru Sahin, also from Turkey, but she was applied then a wazari and lost her first fight.
In the men extra-light category, Allan Kuwabara (60kg) was defeated by ippon by the head-key number 3 of the category, the Uzbek Sharafuddin Lutfillaev. And Diego Santos (60kg) could not fight his best judo against Gumar Kyrgyzbayev (KAZ) and ended up losing by the minimum score.
Brazil ends its participation on Friday, October 17th, with five Brazilians in action at Uzbekistan Sports Hall. Leandro Guilheiro (81kg) enters the contest against the Uzbek Shukhratjon Arslanov. In the women half-middleweight category, Mariana Silva (63kg) fights first against Zamzagul Faizollanova (KAZ) whereas Katherine Campos (63kg) faces the Portuguese Ana Cachola.
In the middleweight, Nadia Merli (70kg) fights first in the eighth-final against the Czech Alena Eiglova. And Maria Portela, head-key number 3, waits for the winner of the clash between Dilshoda Isroilova (UZB) and Megan Fletcher (GBR).
The competition will close on Saturday with the 78kg, +78k , 90kg, 100kg and +100kg categories, in which there are no Brazilian representative. The qualifiers begin at 2 am and the final block at 9 am, Brasília time zone.
