The Men and Women Teams are in 5th Place at the World Junior Championship
Brazil was close to get two more medals at the World Junior Championship, which ended on Sunday (26th) in Fort Lauderdale, the United States. Both Brazilian teams reached the contention for bronze, but they ended up defeated by three to two. The women were defeated by their South Korean counterparts whereas the men by the Russians, and so they got in the fifth place.
The Brazilian women's team was composed of Larissa Farias, Tawany Silva, Jessica Pereira, Flávia Gomes, Tamires Crude, Danielle Karla Oliveira, Mariana Veiga, Camila Gebara and Sibilla Faccholli. In the contention for the medal, Brazil did not have a very good start due to the defeat of Jessica Pereira by Da Sol Park. Flavia Gomes got a wazari after she seemed to lose the fight by yuko to Daun Park and so the competition was tight. Danielle Karla put Brazil ahead after winning the fight against Saho Ahn by wazari and yuko. But Mariana Veiga was immobilized by Hye Jin Jeong and again the confrontation was tied. The heavy Camila Gebara (+ 70kg) lost to Mi Jin Han, the main name of the South-Korean team and the 5th placed in the individual competition, by yuko and so South Korea took the bronze.
In the first match, the Brazilian female athletes defeated their Croatian rivals who counted on the world champion in the half-middleweight, Barbara Matic, as well as the fifth placed Tena Sikic (52kg) and Ivana Sutalo (+ 78kg). And the Brazilians gave them no chance by winning by four to one and getting thus a place in the qualifiers. The fight against Russia was even harder. The highlights of the Russian team were Daria Mezhetskaya, bronze-awarded in the lightweight, and Diana Dzhigaros, seventh placed in the half-middleweight. The Brazilians were defeated by three to two and went to the contention for bronze.
In the repechage, it was time to face Italy. Odette Giuffrida, who was not well in this world competition, is the current European Junior Champion and was bronze at last year’s World Junior Championship, is the leading name in this generation. But since the other team members did not have her level, the Italian team did not manage to overcome Brazil that won by three to two.
Regarding the male athletes’ performance, the Brazilians had to face a quarry in the contention for bronze. The Russians who relied on Egor Mgdsyan, world champion in the half- lightweight; Mikhail Igolnikov, silver in the half-middleweight; and Ruslan hakhbazov, bronze in the heavyweight, won by the minimum score. Ricardo Santos Junior (66kg) and Lincoln Neves (73kg) made tough fights but could not resist their opponents and Russia opened the score by two to zero. Rafael Macedo showed once again his strenght and won his match. Eduardo Santos (90kg) entered just to score Brazil’s second point because the Russians did not have an athlete in this category. But in the end, Gabriel Souza did not manage to defeat Shakhbazov, he suffered four penalties and was eliminated from the fight.
Brazil first fought against Kazakhstan, which had as main athletes the half-middlweight Nurym Salimgereyev, placed seventh in the World Junior Championship. But the team composed of Luiz Claudio Lima Júnior, Vitor Carvalho, Ricardo Santos Júnior, Gabriel Pinheiro, Lincoln Neves, Rafael Macedo, Yudi Eduardo Santos, Thiago Chiodi, Gabriel Souza and João Marcos Cesarino were not afraid by the Kazakhs and so they won by four to one and secured a place in the quarter-final against the strong team of Ukraine. Led by Iakiv Khammo, bronze awarded in the heavyweight, and Bogdan Iadov, placed fifth in the half lightweight, the Ukrainians defeated the Brazilians by a minimal advantage (3-2) and went on to the semifinals.
The Brazilians went to repechage against the surprising team of Egypt, led by the heavyweight Ahmed Wahid, placed seventh in his category, eliminated the strong France in the eighth-finals. In a balanced contention, the Brazilian managed to get a position in the fight for bronze with a victory by three to two.
In the United States, the athletes are led by the technical manager of the teams, Marcelo Theotônio, the coaches Douglas Vieira and Andrea Berti, the technical advisor Edmilson Guimaraes and by the physiotherapist Gustavo Braga.
