Wow… what a fantastic weekend for many of our Tatami athletes at the IBJJF European Championship in Italy, Rome. Staying close to the action over the weekend, many of our athletes left the event armed with pride and medals… lots of them!
Saturday saw the legend Michelle Nicolini write history and walk away with a gold in the Master 1 Lightweight Division, before continuing her winning streak with another gold in Master 1 Black Belt Open Class later on in the day. Congratulations to Michelle on a double win!
It didn’t stop there as Darragh O’Conaill took to the mats to beat his opponents in 4 exciting matches, walking away with a gold medal as Master 1 Lightweight Champion. Team mate Sam Mc Nally also qualified for the Black Belt Adult Feather quarter-finals which saw a victory, and went on to scoop a bronze medal in the Adult Feather division in the semi-finals.
Ashley Bendle took to the podium where she picked up a bronze medal in the Black Adult Feather division, whilst Rita Tana received a bronze medal in the Black Belt Adult Medium-Heavy division. Well done to you both! Alessio Salis made his Euro's debut in the Blue Adult Feather Weight division where he walked away with a bronze medal! Congratulations to Alessio; I'm sure there'll be many more to come...
Emad Omran also picked up a silver medal in the Adult Brown Lightweight division. Congratulations Emad!
Italy's very own Luca Anacoreta took to the mats over the weekend, however Luca suffered a blow in his first fight on Sunday after an injury seconds into the match, which meant he was out of the rest of the competition. We hope to see Luca back very soon...
In a series of nail biting matches, Tommy Langaker fought through to the finals where he found himself up against Tainan Dalpra, dubbed ‘the 2021 rematch everyone wanted!' Tommy narrowly missed out on an overall win, however put on a fast-paced, exciting performance over the weekend and walked away with a silver medal. Well done Tommy!
(Image courtesy of @borojitsu)
Espen Mathiesen put on an impressive performance which led him to top the leaderboard in his division as Lightweight Black Belt European Champion. This is Espen's first Euro's gold by an advantage. Congratulations Espen on an undoubtably exciting victory and one you must be very proud of!
(Image courtesy of @borojitsu)
Rafael Lovato Jr, one of our latest signings at Tatami needs absolutely no introduction. A BJJ legend within the sport and a black belt for almost 20 years, Lovato sailed through every match and came out on top as the Ultra-Heavyweight Black Belt Champion to put an end to a successful weekend. Congratulations to Rafael on your epic win! We are proud to support you & are excited for the year ahead!
Congratulations to all of our Tatami athletes and everyone who took part at the European Championship this week in Rome. We are proud to have had so many of you compete, and watch your hard work & dedication pay off!
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