Marcelo Contini and Mariana Silva Are Fifth in the GP of Dusseldorf
The athletes were defeated in the contention for bronze held on the second day of competition. There are six athletes fighting on Sunday, the last day of the tournament.
There were two Brazilian representatives in the final block of the second day of the Grand Prix of Dusseldorf, the competition that opens the calendar of the International Judo Federation. On Saturday, Marcelo Contini (73kg) and Mariana Silva (63kg) reached the bronze dispute but failed to show their best judo and finished in fifth place. The GP held in Germany ends on Sunday and Brazil will have six representatives in search of medals: Samanta Soares (78kg), Rochelle Nunes (+ 78kg), Eduardo Bettoni (90kg), Luciano Correa (100kg), Rafael Buzacarini (100kg) and Walter Santos (+ 100kg). On the first day of the tournament, Rafaela Silva (57kg) won the gold whereas Phelipe Pelim (60kg) the bronze.
Marcelo Contini was the best Brazilian on the second day of fighting, reaching the semifinals when he was defeated by the Georgian Tatalashvili by wazari. In the bronze dispute, he could not defeat the strong Sagi Muki, an Israeli who is the current number two in the world ranking. He was projected twice wazari and ended his participation in the fifth. But the athlete from Pinheiros made great fights in order to get to the race for the medal. He started defeating the Lithuanian Kestutis Vitkauskas by ippon with only 47 seconds of fight. Then he had to face his next opponent, a tough one, the Slovenian Rok Draksic, fifth in the world rankings. In a balanced fight, Contini dominated the opponent who was punished three times and was thus defeated. In the 8th-finals, he overcame the Portuguese André Alves also due to the difference in punishment. Against the Mongol Odbayar Ganbaatar, he got a yuko and controlled the fight until the end, ensuring a position in the semifinals.
Mariana Silva made a good fight against the Japanese Miku Tashiro and managed to project her opponent twice by yuko. However, in an oversight, she was defeated herself by a wazari which made the Japanese the winner of the fight and the athlete from Minas the holder of the fifth place. Before reaching the bronze contention, Mariana had to recover from a defeat in the quarter-finals caused by the German Martyna Trajdos for only a punishment and win the repechage against another German, Nadja Bazynski, by ippon. Before she had won three fights: Taylor King from Luxembourg due to a difference of punishments; Daniela Kazanoi of Belarus by ippon; and Da-Woon Joung from South Korea, also for punishments.
"I could realize that I am on the same level as the world's best ones, but small errors are making a difference right now. I have to keep working because I have to be 100% correct to ensure a medal and the Olympic position, “Mariana said.
The other Brazilians who competed today failed to reach the final block. The young Danielle Karla Oliveira (63kg), who made her debut in the senior team, was defeated in the first round of the competition by the American Leilani Akiyama. The same performance as Felipe Costa (81kg) and Barbara Timo (70kg) who made balanced fights but were defeated, respectively, by Benjamin Muennich (GER) and Naranjargal Ayush (MGL) in the beginning of the competition. Leandro Guilheiro (81kg) defeated Bodirlau Cristian (ROU) in the first place but could not stand against Csoknyai Laszlo (HUN). Alex Pombo (73kg) defeated the Peruvian Alex Sotelo Angeles but could not resist the Belarusian Vadzim Shoka.
The disputes of the Grand Prix of Dusseldorf start at eight in the morning, Brasília time. The final block, broadcast by SporTV, Esporte Interativo and ESPN, will be held from 2PM.
