Portuguese judoka Patrícia Sampaio today won the silver medal in the -78 kg category at the Kazakhstan Grand Slam, after losing to Japan’s Mao Izumi in the final in Almaty.
After having already won bronze medals at the Tel Aviv, Tashkent and Antalya Grand Slams this season, Patrícia Sampaio, 11th in the world rankings, reached a final in the category for the first time, eventually losing against the current 153rd in the world, but who already had two Grand Slam podiums in 2019.
To reach the final, the Portuguese beat Latvian Una Dolgilevica (ranked 70th), Russian Aleksandra Babintseva (28th) and French Madeleine Malonga (10th).
The other Portuguese in competition today, Rochele Nunes, ranked 13th, beat Russian Mariia Ivanova (unranked) in the first round of the +78kg, but missed the access to the semi-final, when she lost to Dutch Marit Kamps (15th).
In the play-off, Rochele Nunes was defeated again, by France’s Lea Fontaine, the seventh judoka in the world in her category, ending the competition in seventh place.
