ABU DHABI // Brazilians Felipe Pena and Tayane Araujo emerged as the new holders of the absolute belts in the Abu Dhabi World Professional Championship.
Pena atoned for the failure of retaining his 94-kilogram weight belt with victory over fellow Brazilian Jose Junior in the open weight, while Araujo completed the double by winning the open and +70kg weight on Saturday night at the Ipic Arena.
“I’m just overwhelmed with my biggest career prize,” Pena said when asked of his feeling in winning the title for the first time and with it the biggest share of the championship cheque for US$30,000 (Dh110,000).
“The final was another tough fight as it always has been at this level. It was a title I really wanted to win after the disappointment of losing in my weight category on the previous day.”
Pena went down to Erberth Mequita in the quarter-finals of the 94kg weight on points 7-2.
“That was my first defeat to him in four meetings and it was very disappointing result for me,” he said.
Coming up against Junior, he scored an early point from a sweep and then forced a submission with around 20 seconds left of the six-minute contest. Junior, who is employed as a jiu-jitsu instructor attached to the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s School Programme, was equally dejected on missing out on his biggest career title.
“I worked really hard for this and it was such a disappointment that I couldn’t do it on the final match,” Junior said.
“He waited for me to do a mistake to take an early lead on points.
“I was desperate to get even and then committed another mistake and he grabbed my arms for a submission.
“Reaching the final was a big achievement but as a fighter you are always disappointed when you lose. I will now go back, re-think of my training and be back next year.”
Araujo, who defeated the defending champion Mackenzie Dern in the absolute class, was speechless after completing the double.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said after her victory over Beatriz Mesquita in the absolute final.
“The match was tough but I have been following her for some time now. I knew she was an experienced fighter and winning a lot of medals but I used my superior weight and power to good effect.”
Araujo had earlier powered her way to the +70kg title after forcing a submission on compatriot Fernanda Mezzelli.
Beatriz Mesquita had also come into the open final after claiming gold over another Brazilian Bianca Basilio by submission in the 62kg weight.
“I had to work really hard but it feels nice to win gold again,” said Beatriz, who was winning her third gold in the weight category following her success in 2013 and 2015.
Mackenzie Dern retained her 55kg crown after a narrow 2-1 advantage points victory over Brazilian Marina Ribeiro.
“For me, it was so good to come back and be able to win my division,” the American said after extending her head-to-head record to 3-1. “I fought so good so I am so happy. It was a close fight and I tried to get point to pass but I just had advantages, and more advantages.
“When I knew I had just 15 seconds left all she needed was one sweep and she would win so with so little time left I was thinking she will come with everything. So I tried to put pressure on her.”
Ricardo Evangelista ended a five-year wait to win his first gold. The Brazilian, who also moved to Abu Dhabi last year, outclassed Victor Silva on points 6-0 in the +94kg final.
Emirati possesses golden touch
Yahya Mansour Al Hammadi’s lone gold medal was the high point for the host nation on the final day of the eighth Abu Dhabi World Professional Championship.
The Emirati edged out Christopher Hernandez of Ecuador by an advantage point in the Masters-1 brown belt 94-kilogram-plus final in a card otherwise dominated by the Brazilians.
“I’m very happy to win gold, especially in front of my home fans,” Al Hammadi said after retaining his title. “It’s an honour to represent my country on the world stage.
“It was my toughest competition because brown belt is never easy and I really had to work hard against the world’s best here.
“My opponent in the final was bigger and heavier, but I stuck to my strengths and did well.”
He had to settle for a silver behind Russian Arsen Shapyev in the Masters-1 brown belt open weight class on the other night.
Al Hammadi is one of the longest-serving members of the UAE National Jiu-Jitsu team.
The gold is his fourth in the World Pro after 2009 (white), 2012 (blue) and 2015 (brown).
Al Hammadi also came into the Abu Dhabi event in good nick after winning three gold medals at the Grand Slams in Tokyo, Los Angeles and London.
“It’s all about the work and the passion that goes with it,” Al Hammadi said. “We are provided with one of the best facilities to train and above all the support we receive from our federation.”
In other categories, Brazil topped the medals table with 50 gold from a possible 122.
It comes as no surprise with 470 entries from the South American nation followed by UAE (192), Colombia (104), Russia (101) and Kazakhstan (100) from 47 participating countries.
Brazil won 20 of the 22 gold medals in the black belt division for both the men and women.
Alan do Nascimento of Sweden in the 85kg Masters 1 and American Mackenzie Dern in the women’s 55kg were the only one’s outside Brazil to be successful in the category.
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