Judoka Rochelle Nunez won the gold medal at the Grand Slam tournament in Abu Dhabi this Thursday, defeating Kazakh Kamila Berlikash in the final of the +78 kg category using the ippon method.
Rochelle Nunes won the first gold medal of her Grand Slam career, winning before the middle of the fight, from uchi mata (throwing technique) to osaekomi (immobilization).
The Benfica judoka, who is in the Olympic qualifying zone, took 1,000 points with this triumph – more than a European Championship triumph is worth – and should see a significant rise in the world rankings, as well as in qualifying for Paris 2024.
In Abu Dhabi, Rochelle Nunez confirmed that she has had a good year, which brought her her first gold at the Grand Prix back in June, and now at the Grand Slam tournament, the most important international competition after the Olympics, the Masters and the world. .
The Grand Slams even count more than the Europeans in the “counting” of points in the world classification, although the continental competition, which is worth 700 points for winning, represents a title achievement.
Before Abu Dhabi, in September, Rochelle Nunes once again won silver at a Grand Slam tournament, then in Baku, after also winning silver in 2022 in the Azerbaijani capital, as well as in 2021 in Tbilisi and Tel Aviv, which brought she lost four finals. in these “majors”.
In this Thursday’s competition, which precedes the European Championships in Montpellier, from November 3 to 5, Benfica’s judokas showed more than a positive result in a 100% winning journey, always with the maximum score (ippon).
Rochelle, ranked 12th in the world and ranked third, beat Moldovan Oksana Diachenko (62nd), Italian Asia Tavano (21st), Russian Alice Startseva (64th) and Kazakh Kamila Berlikash (17th). -th place).
This Thursday’s gold, translated into 1000 points that count in total, should “project” the judoka to the top places in the +78 kg category, at best fourth position, guaranteeing status among the eight seeded teams.
An important moment for Rochelle Nunez, not only for increased confidence ahead of the European Championships, but also for the continuation of the consistent results of the Brazilian-born judoka who decided to represent Portugal at the beginning of 2019.
Also this Thursday in Abu Dhabi, Patricia Sampaio was in good form, missing – like Catarina Costa (-48 kg) on Tuesday and João Fernando (-81 kg) on Wednesday – just short of bringing a medal, repeating her fifth place comrades on command.
Sociedade Filarmónica judoka Gualdim Pais (11th place) played four matches in Tomar, scoring two victories over Australia’s Maria Swan (63rd place) and Britain’s Emma Reid (18th place) and losing to Italy’s Alice Bellandi (1st place). place). and Anna Maria Wagner (4th), first and second favorites.
Patricia Sampaio scored 360 points at 78kg and she should also, with less influence, benefit from some progress in a category in which she is eligible for Paris 2024 and tops at the next European Championships.
Finally, Jorge Fonseca, a two-time world champion in the 100 kg weight category in 2019 and 2021, also competed in Abu Dhabi, but, having overtaken Belarusian Daniel Moukete (66th place), he was surprised nine seconds before the end of his second fight .
The Sporting judoka (13th in the world) met his old friend, Serbian Aleksandar Kukol (17th), whom he defeated in the final of the 2021 World Championships, but lost this year in the final of the Zagreb Grand Prix. in August.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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