Nathália Brigida Is Silver-Awarded at Astana GP
Eleudis Valentim (52kg) got the bronze
Brazil won two medals this Friday, October 10th, the first day of Astana the Grand Prix, Kazakhstan. Nathália Brigida reached the final fight of the extra-light category but could not resist the Mongol Otsentseg Galbadrakh and thus she took the silver. Eleudis Valentim (52kg) won bronze by defeating the Spanish Laura Gomez for having fewer penalties. Gabriela Chibana reached the fight for bronze but she was defeated by the Turkish Ebru Sahin and got the fifth place.
Nathália Brigida defeated Shushila Likmabamb from India, by ippon and the French Amelie Rossene who is defending Israel, by a yuko before reaching the semifinals. In search for a place in the final, she defeated Ebru Sahin (TUR) for having fewer penalties and managed to get in the final against Otgontsetseg Galbadrakh (MGL). This last fight was very hard and in the last minute, the athlete from Minas ended up being immobilized and so she took the silver.
"I'm happy with the result, but not fully satisfied because I know I have a lot to improve but I’m glad to be back on the podium of a tough competition. Now I'm focused on next week's competition. I will work to correct the mistakes in order to get a medal in Uzbekistan ", said Nathália, referring to Tashkent Grand Prix which will be held from October 16th to 18th.
Fighting in the same category, Gabriela Chibana (48kg) missed the podium for little. The judoka of the Pinheiros lost the fight for bronze against the Turkish Ebru Sahin in the last 30 seconds before the end of the fight and finished in fifth place. She had overcome Kamshat Karassaikyzy (KGZ) due to a difference of penalties, but lost the fight against Otgontsetseg Galbadrakh (MGL). The fight against the Mongol was very balanced. Chibana managed to apply a wazari to her opponent, but in the last 20 seconds she was applied herself an ippon. In the repechage, she defeated Shira Rishony (ISR) by wazari, which gave her the right to reach the contention for the third place.
The other medal of the day was brought by Eleudis Valentim (52kg) who won the bronze. In the contention for this award, Eleudis managed to control well the fight against the Spanish Laura Gomez and won due to a difference of penalties. The athlete from Pinheiros started the competition by overocoming Ayse Ark from Turkey, with two yukos. But in the quarter-finals she could not impose her best judo and she was eventually defeated by the Israeli Gili Cohen due to a difference of penalties. In repechage, she overcame the Belgian Ilse Heylen with an ippon in the first 26 seconds of the fight and qualified to compete for bronze against Gomez.
Regarding the men’s performance, Phelipe Pelim and Allan Kuwabara were defeated by Amartuvshin Dashdavaa (MGL) and Bakhrom Inoyatov (UZB) respectively and did not arrive in contention for medals.
Brazil will end its participation in Astana Grand Prix this Saturday, October 11th. Mariana Silva (63kg), Katherine Campos (63kg), Nadia Merli (70kg), Maria Portela (70kg) and Leandro Guilheiro (81kg), who resumes competing after a two year-absence due to a injury, will represent Brazil in the competition. The coach Mario Sabino will be responsible for the team, together with Hans Peter Strubreiter as the massage therapist. The keys can be checked in the attached file. SporTV and Esporte Interativo broadcast the final block from 08h00 am. The qualifiers start at 1h00 am.
