New heavyweight Leandro Lo advances to the final

The Multiusos Pavilion in Odivelas, Portugal was shaken this Saturday by the first black belt matches of the European Championship — more specifically the men’s and women’s open divisions.

Leandro Lo, Lúcio Lagarto, Cláudio Calasans, Márcio André, Isaque Bahiense, Mahamed Aly, Rodrigo Caporal and Nathan Medelson were among the men in the running, but only two will go through to tomorrow’s final.

It was Lo and Calasans that made it past the 36 other competitors. To get to the final on his side, Lo beat four athletes, including Mahamed Aly and Isaque Bahiense. Calasans also beat four, including Manuel Ribamar in a semifinal and Gustavo Elias in a quarterfinal.

Fourteen athletes entered the women’s open. The final tomorrow will pit Beatriz Mesquita — who beat Karolina Zawodnik and Cláudia do Val — against Tayane Porfírio — who defeated Mackenzie Dern after getting past Priscila Cerqueira.

Stay tuned to Graciemag.com and our social media accounts, and click here for the results so far.