Brazilian judoka Baby wins bronze at Almada Grand Prix

Brazil said goodbye to the Almada judo Grand Prix in Portugal with three medals. On Sunday (Jan. 29), Rafael Silva, known as Baby, won the bronze medal in the category above 100 kilos, beating his compatriot João Cesarino, securing a place on the podium. South Korean Kim Minjong was the weight champion.

Ninth place in the category by the International Judo Federation (IJF), Baby ended the Grand Prix with four wins in five fights. Besides Cesarino, he beat Cypriot Antoniou Giannis, Kazakh Zhambyl Turgynaliyev, and South Korean Youn Jaegu, losing only in the semifinal to Georgian Saba Inaneishvili, who won silver. The third place will yield 350 points in the world and olympic rankings. The latter, released on June 24, 2022, will define the qualifiers for the Paris Games (France), in 2024.

Almada

In the two previous days of competition, Brazilian judo climbed onto the podium twice. On Friday (27), Rafaela Silva won silver in the category up to 57 kilos. On Saturday (28), Gabriella Mantena was vice-champion in the category up to 63 kilos. Just like Cesarino, Gabriella won the national selection last year, which qualified her for a place in the national team.