Day 1 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Rio was a complete success. Hundreds of athletes stepped on the five mats set up at the Velodromo, in the Olympic Park, this Friday, October 22. Both the Professional and Masters division were filled with thrills from beginning to end.
The highlight of the program was the Professional male brown belt division. Talented competitors that are one step away from the black belt ranking proved they already know tons of Jiu Jitsu. Here’s how each weight class final played out.
Professional Brown Belt Male
Light-featherweight (-56kg) – With a 3-2 lead, Wellison Fernandes beat Rodrigo Oliveira in a tough final match to secure the gold medal.
Featherweight (-62kg) – Leonardo Mario quickly found an armbar to finish Andrew Cardoso and take the gold medal home.
Lightweight (-69kg) – A sweep in the last seconds of the match meant the 5-3 lead that Lucas Silva needed to beat Carlos Henrique for the title.
Welterweight (-77kg) – Jhonathan Marques and Mathaeus Niccolas fought it hard to the end but could not score a point, ending in a 0-0 tie after 6 minutes. The referees decided Jhonathan had the edge and granted him the win for the title.
Middleweight (-85kg) – Rui Neto stayed in control of the match to beat Alehander Mariano 3-1 and secure the title.
Light-Heavyweight (-94kg) – Pedro Machado waited until the final 30s of the match to sweep Luiz Henrique and secure the 3-1 lead that meant the gold medal.
Super-Heavyweight (-120kg) – In the heaviest division, Vinicius Liberati made his game work to beat Fernando Cantareira 5-0 and secure the gold medal.
Day 1 of the ADGS Rio also featured thrilling matches in the Professional and Masters purple belt divisions and the Brown belt master division. Here are the champions.
Masters Brown Belt
Male
-69kg – Fylipe Chaves (Brazil)
-77kg – Athie Rodrigues (Brazil)
-85kg – Rafael Sousa (Brazil)
-94kg – Eduardo Saraiva (Brazil)
-120kg – Eduardo Arruda (Brazil)
Professional Purple Belt
Male
-56kg – Juan Jaramillo (Ecuador)
-62kg – Cleison Gabriel (Brazil)
-69kg – Marcos Pinheiros (Brazil)
-77kg – Mateus Coelho (Brazil)
-85kg – André Soares (Brazil)
-94kg – Leon Mendonça (Brazil)
-120kg – Robson Chaves (Brazil)
Female
-49kg – Luciana Ribeiro (Brazil)
-55kg – Aghata Alves (Brazil)
-62kg – Maria Luisa Delahaye (Brazil)
-70kg – Amanda Hening (Brazil)
-95kg – Isabely Lemos (Brazil)
Masters Purple Belt
Male
-62kg – Italo Almeida (Brazil)
-69kg – Maksim Kuznetsov (Russia)
-77kg – Gustavo Vernalha ou Pedro Junior (Brazil)
-85kg – Rafael Alves (Brazil)
-94kg – Ricardo Jesus (Brazil)
The ADGS Rio returns this Saturday, October 23, for the experienced but no less thrilling Masters black belt division. Follow the complete coverage on Instagram and watch all matches live on Youtube.
