Maria Suelen Altheman Defeats Her Tunisian Counterpart and Wins the Bronze in the GP from Samsun
The Brazilian won a fight, lost another and gave no chance to Sahar Trabelsi in the contention for the bronze medal
The Brazilian Maria Suelen Altheman ( +78 kg ) won the bronze medal in the Grand Prix of Samsun on Sunday. It was the second medal of the Brazilian team since the first day of competition; Charles Chibana also won bronze in the half-lightweight category (up to 66kg). In contention for the podium, the opponent was the Tunisian Sahar Trabelsi. Suelen applied a sweeping ippon after just 25 seconds of combat.
On her way to the podium, Suelen defeated Sebile Akbulut, who had the gym’s support, since she was at home, with an ippon after the already applied yuko and wazari. However, in the next round, the athlete from Santos was defeated by Nihel Cheikh Rouhou from Tunisia, with two yukos. The Tunisian athlete did not stop there and went on for the gold medal disputed against the German Jasmin Kuelbs. In the end, the medal was against another opponent from the same country, and the Brazilian did not feel the slightest pressure.
The world vice-champion from 2013 was the only athlete from Brazil fighting in the competition – the team was coached by Fulvio Miyata. On Friday, besides the bronze awarded to Chibana, Vinicius Sakamoto ( 66kg ) and Ketleyn Quadros ( 57kg ) stepped on the mats ; on Saturday, Victor Penalber (81kg), back to competition after his surgery from last October, Mariana Barros ( 63kg ) and Barbara Timo ( 70kg ) , represented the green and yellow colors.
The next the commitment of the selection is the Pan American Championships, which will be held in the city of Guayaquil, away from Ecuador’s high altitudes, on April 25th and 26th.
