Brazilians dominate AFOC jiu-jitsu podium

Denzil Pinto 11:42 14/07/2014
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  • Southern power: Ricardo Ferreira Evangelista (c) is flanked by compatriots Pedro Nogueira Duarte (l) and Filipe Segat on the podium.

    Ricardo Ferreira Evangelista claimed gold as Brazil dominated the Jiu Jitsu Black belt open weight category, with the UAE’s Faisal Al Ketbi finishing fourth in the Armed Forces Officers Club (AFOC) Ramadan Tournament.

    The 28-year-old finished ahead of runner-up Pedro Nogueira Duarte and Felipe Sagat, who had defeated Al Ketbi in the semi-final and for the third/fourth place play-off respectively.

    Evangelista couldn’t be any happier with his victory, which was watched by over 100 spectators at the Al Maqta Hall of the AFOC in Abu Dhabi during the two-day event.

    He said: “It was my first time competing in the competition and I also had some injury problems about two weeks ago, but I am so happy to have won this medal.

    “This category is the Black belt, so every match was tough.

    “It was very hard as all the guys were tough. In these types of competitions you can’t take anything easy. I remained focused during the match and executed well,” added Evangelista, who also took home Dh7,000 for his winning effort.

    For Al Ketbi, who moved up from Brown to the Black belt category in May, the experience was the start of a learning curve.

    The 26-year-old said: “It was a very tough competition as I had to compete against top judokas. It was a good experience and irrespective of whether I had won or lost today, I have learned a lot.

    “Whenever you move up to a new colour division, there will be new challenges and I am eager to improve with my coach’s help.

    “I will be competing against guys who’ve had the Black belt for five or 10 years who have experience in the field. But it will be good to learn from them as fast as I can,” added Al Ketbi, a double gold medallist in the 100kg and open weight in the Brown belt category at the 2014 Abu Dhabi World Professional Championships.

    The Brown belt open weight category honours went to Abdurakhman Bilarov, who defeated Jordan’s Zaid Saad Sami in the final.

    The 24-year-old Russian, who flew down to the UAE capital specifically for the tournament, was delighted with winning the gold medal.

    “It feels good to win this medal especially in a place like Abu Dhabi where the sport is big,"said Bilarov. "I compete in a lot of the tournaments in Abu Dhabi because I want to fight against the best, and this Ramadan tournament is no different.”

    Apart from the Brown and Black belt categories, over 150 judokas from as far as Armenia, Spain, Oman, Qatar and Morocco competed for 18 gold medals.

    Among the winners were Abdulsalam Dhiyab Aziz (White, 90kg), Fawaz Samer Haddadin (Blue, 90kg) and Saydkhasan Abubakirov (Blue, +90kg).

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