The Brazilian Junior Team Scores Two More Gold Medals in the European Cup from Prague
Eduardo Santos (81kg/SP) and Sibilla Faccholli (+78 kg / SP) were the champions. Danielle Karla Oliveira (63kg/RJ), Isadora Pereira (78kg/MG) and Gabriel Souza (100kg/SP) got the bronze.
The Brazilian team that competed this weekend in the European Junior Cup in Prague, point-worth for the world junior ranking, won two gold and three bronze medals. Eduardo Santos (81kg/SP) and Sibilla Faccholli (+78 kg / SP) were the champions, while Danielle Karla Oliveira (63kg/RJ), Isadora Pereira (78kg/MG) and Gabriel Souza (100kg/SP) got the third place of their weight categories. On Saturday, Luiz Claudio Lima Junior (55kg/SP), Tawany Silva (48kg/SP) and Jessica Pereira (52kg/RJ) rose to the highest place of the podium. Vitor Hugo Carvalho (55kg/SP) and Larissa Farias (44kg/MS) got the silver and Flavia Gomes (57kg) the bronze.
The heavyweight Sibilla Faccholli did a perfect performance, winning all her four fights by ippon. In the qualifiers, she overcame Natalia Pilarczyk (POL) and Emese Karpaty (HUN). In the semifinal she had a victory over the Ukrainian Yelizateva Kalanina and in the final round, she applied another perfect blow to the Croatian Ivana Sutalo.
"I was training a lot because I hadn’t had a good performance in the previous tour and I really wanted that medal. With the help of my coaches, I corrected my mistakes and it worked today, " said the bronze medalist from Ljubljana 2013 World Championship.
Before getting the gold, Eduardo Santos had to work for it a little bit longer and had to beat five opponents. Therefore, he defeated Patrick Ganselmayer (AUT), Nikita Sapega (LAT) and Grachik Avagyan (UKR) by ippon in the first round. In the semifinal he had a victory against Ivaylo Ivanov (BUL) by a yuko and in the decision one more victory by ippon against Maximilian Schneider (AUT).
"I want to thank God and everyone who supported me. I dedicate this medal to my sister whose birthday is today, "wrote Eduardo in Portuguese and Japanese on his personal Facebook page a few hours after the conquest. He was born and raised in Japan but he is the son of Brazilian parents.
Danielle Karla defeated Ibolya Siroki (HUN), Paz Liebel (ISR) and Anna Isenko (POL) in the qualifiers. However, in the semi-final she could not resist the Croatian Maja Blagojevic, who would win the title of the competition. In the bronze decision, she managed to defeat the Spanish Saray Padilla.
"It was great to win this medal and to see that I progressed. Now I have to take advantage of the training in Prague and prepare for Berlin, "Danielle said, already thinking about the next challenge of the junior team.
Isadora Pereira had to win only two fights before getting to the podium. In her key, she defeated Dominika Halkova and advanced to the semifinals when she was defeated by Evelin Salanki (HUN). In the bronze decision, she defeated Ilaria Silveri (ITA) by ippon in the first 45 seconds of the fight.
"It was not the expected result but I can’t stop being happy for my victory! One more step in this journey, " Isadora Pereira celebrated.
Gabriel Souza missed fighting in the decision. In the first round, he applied ippon to Daniel Moskal (POL) and Antonio Scialla (ITA). But, in the semifinal, he was defeated by Slobodan Djorda because of four punishments, having one more than his opponent. In the bronze decision, he controlled the fight against Jalil Shukurov from Azerbaijan and won by having two penalties less.
"As always, this has given me the strength to fight and comforted me: 'Nothing can do more than God, son,'" Gabriel Souza said in a social network.
Rafael Macedo (81kg), Thiago Chiodi (90kg) and João Cesarino (+100 kg) also reached the contention for medals in the second and final day of competition in Prague but they finished in the fifth place. Mariana Veiga and Camila Nogueira were seventh placed.
With eleven won medals, the Brazilian team outperformed the results achieved last year. In 2013, there were 10 medals, namely two gold, one silver and seven bronze awards. This year, Brazil ended up leading the medal chart with five gold, two silver and four bronze medals, followed by Ukraine with three gold and one bronze; Azerbaijan with two gold, one silver and one bronze; Israel with two gold and a bronze; and Poland, with a gold, a silver and three bronze medals. The team will be training in Nymburk, Czech Republic, until next Thursday, July 31st, when they fly to Berlin for the last contest of the World Junior Tour 2014. The category’s World Championship will be held in Miami, from October 20th to 27th.
The technical committee was formed by Kenji Saito, the Juniors and Cadets Performance Director; Marcelo Theotônio, coach assistant; the coaches Douglas Vieira and Andrea Berti; the fitness trainer Armando Gonzalez; the physiotherapists Gabriel Braga and Ricardo Amadei; and the psychologist Mariana Correa.
