The finalists for the black belt open class gold medal matches have been decided.
In the male division, Danish Alexander Trans will take on Brazilian Yuri Simões for the title.
Trans made his way to the final with his usual pressure game.
In the quarterfinals, he caught Thomas Johanssen with a foot lock.
The opponent in the semifinal was Fabiano “Boi”Leite.
Trans managed to almost get the back in the earlier stages of the fight and worked the choke, but couldn’t quite finish the fight.
Even so, he got four advantages to secure his place in the final.
Yuri Simões
Yuri Simões had a tough path to the gold medal match.
After two wins by submission over Oliver Geddes and Jaroslaw Gadek, he faced Igor Silva in the quarterfinals.
The victory came with an armbar.
The opponent in the semifinal was former teammate Jackson Souza and the fight was fierce.
Yuri scored early with a takedown and worked the pass while defending Jackson’s sweeps.
Both Yuri and Trans talked about what they expect from the final Sunday.
“We fought before in 2011, in the Euro purple belt open class final, and I won. Iknow he is very dangerous and we also trained together in Brazil,” said Trans.
“He is not only strong, but very skilled. I’m ready for everything!” said Simões.
Luanna Alzuguir
In the female division, another battle between Brazil and Scandinavia.
Swedish Ida Hansson will face Brazilian Luanna Alzuguir.
Luanna fought only once for the chance at the gold.
She defeated Hansson’s teammate Janni Lasron in a thrilling match decided in the last 30s.
Behind in the scoreboard by 2 points, Alzuguir managed to get the sweep and work to take the back for an extra advantage.
“I made a mistake in the beggining of the fight and had to recover,” confessed Luanna.
Ida Hansson
Ida first defeated Gretchen Zoeller and then faced Vanessa Oliveira.
The semifinal was also thrilling and Ida only got the 2 points for the win in the very end.
This Sunday, the weight divisions of the black belt come into action and the day ends with the finals.
For the partial results after three days of competition, go to ibjjf.com
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