Lo in action in the Nationals. Flashsport.
Over 5,700 athletes of all belts signed up for the Brazilian Nationals, which this year returned to José Correa Gymnasium in Barueri, keeping all 12 mats very busy.
Saturday the 29th saw the open divisions kick off and play out all the way to the end of the semifinals. Leandro Lo and Erberth Santos made it in the men’s section. To get there, Lo first beat Moisés Junior with a choke from the back. Then he faced Rodrigo Ribeiro (G13), who fought well but lost 5-0 due to a takedown and a pass. Then Lo scored 8-0 on the giant Otávio Nalati (Guigo JJ) after unbalancing and taking his back. Then, in the semifinal, Lo took on Renato Cardoso (Alliance). Lo swept at the beginning, then Renato sweept back. With 2-2 on the scoreboard, Lo swept again and passed, winning by 9-2.
Erberth’s path to the final started with a fight against Eduardo Sarkissian (Barbosa JJ), who was choked from the back. Then Erberth managed to choke out Caio Freitas (Halavanca JJ) after getting taken down; he swept back, passed and took the back to finish. Erberth then faced Rodrigo Akillis (Alliance); the fight started out hot, but Erberth ended up with another choke. In the semifinal, Erberth faced his old rival Victor Honório (GFTeam). Erberth got a takedown to lead, then attempted an arm submission and saw Honório seize a gap to reverse the position. The bout then slowed down, leading the refs to punish both and threaten a double disqualification. Victor reacted by pulling; on top, Erberth slipped and almost passed and mounted right before the whistle — the win was his by advantages on top of a 4-4 score.
Women’s open division
Bia Mesquita made her way to the final by first defeating Carina Santi (G13) via choke from the back. Then she scored 10-0 over Cláudia do Val (De la Riva), passing her guard. On the other bracket, Tayane Porfírio first faced brave guard player Bia Basílio (Almeida JJ), who managed to close and control her for a while, until Porfírio started scoring, stopping only at 15-0 by passing and mounting a few times.
