Although the Brazilian girls were ready to take it all on the second day of the cadet European cup in Coimbra, the boys of the Uzbekistan team collected two more gold medals to, narrowly but yet, overcome the rest. Consequently, Brazil finished on second place of the final standings. The home crowed was also able to celebrate when Stanislav Yoltukhovskiy won the only medal for Portugal, clamping down a bronze in the -90kg category.
The entire weekend was filled with remarkable moments and intense competition. It is clear that these promising young talents will continue to make an impact in the future. The winner of the -63kg category, Lucia Carpio Fernandez shared her ‘route to gold’ recipe of the day:
I had very good feelings and that is what marked this competition, regardless of the result I have obtained. This season came with some ups and downs, since I was coming off last year with good results and I had a lot of pressure to disappoint myself if I didn’t achieve it. In the end, I knew how to handle it well and take off that pressure that prevents me from enjoying the competition the way I like, especially from the head, that’s everything and here I controlled it very well.
I am a person who needs to do my thing and not concentrate all the time on the fights, I need to be laughing and having a good time, and what better way than today, with my teammates and my coach, my mother. Maybe that’s why it came out like this. Now that I finish my qualifiers in this way, I am really looking forward to what I am really preparing; and I hope everything turns out as I have planned.
As per tradition a three-day training camp will follow the event. Congratulation to all participants!
Text: Miguel Galhardas / Images: Paulo Porfírio
Author: Szandra Szogedi