Brazilians made a clean sweep of the gold medals in the black belt category at the Dubai Jiu-Jitsu Open over the weekend, the second time in as many competitions that they have done so.
They won all 18 gold medals up for grabs at the Al Nasr Club with Ricardo Evangelista and Jessica Santos bagging a double-gold each in the men’s and women’s categories in both their weight and the open divisions.
It was the third time Santos, 24, had won two golds, replicating her achievements at the Al Ain Open 12 months ago nd the Abu Dhabi Open in January.
Santos, a jiu-jitsu instructor attached to Palm Sports, the technical arm of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, said her objective was to win gold at the Abu Dhabi World Professional Championships next April.
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She won a bronze in her first appearance at the Abu Dhabi event in 2013, missed out on a medal the following year and had to settle for silver in last year’s championships.
“To win the gold at the World Pro has been my dream ever since I arrived here three years ago,” Santos said. “I started working under a new coach [Luanna Alzuguir] soon after the World Pro last April and already feel my development as a fighter has improved remarkably.
While Brazilians dominated the black belt category, Emiratis had their share of success by winning eight of the 64 gold medals in total.
Yahia Mansour was the most impressive of the national winners. He won the masters-1 brown belt open final against Frenchman Abdesalam Berkane, ending the fight with a choke-lock in less than two minutes.
apassela@thenational.ae
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