Rafael Macedo takes fifth in Kazakhstan Grand Slam

On the third and final day of the Grand Slam of Astana, Kazakhstan, Brazilian Judo was represented by middleweight Rafael Macedo (-90kg), who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal.  

In the medal bout against Greece's Theodoros Tselidis, Macedo was suspended with two penalties for lack of fighting spirit and finally suffered a waza-ari in the golden point, which gave the victory to Tselidis.  

Rafael Macedo, ranked 11th in the world by the IJF, arrived in Kazakhstan as the tournament's top seed and confirmed his status by winning his bracket. He defeated the Georgian Bakar Erashvili with a waza-ari and overcame the Estonian Klein Kaljulaid by ippon to advance to the semifinals.  

In this phase, Macedo faced Frenchman Maxime-Gael Ngayap Hambou and took the worst of the punishment. First, he was penalized for a false attack, and when he tried to enter a technique, he was penalized again, this time for grabbing his opponent's leg. A minute later the Brazilian was penalized for lack of fight and was eliminated by Hansokumake (3 shidos). 

Brazil leaves the Grand Slam with a positive performance record. For this stage, CBJ took only two athletes and both reached the medal competitions. Guilherme Schimidt (81kg) won silver on Saturday and Macedo (90kg) finished fifth on Sunday.  

The balance of wins and losses was positive. There were five wins and three losses in the eight fights fought by the Brazilians. 

Calendar  

The next stage of the IJF World Circuit will be the Ulambaatar Grand Slam in Mongolia, which, as in previous seasons, was not scheduled for the Brazilian team.  

From June 26th to 27th, the CBJ will hold the fourth stage of the National Selective Project - Paris 2024, at the Esporte Clube Pinheiros, in São Paulo, opening another opportunity for new athletes to enter the Confederation's investment zone.