JANUARY 24, 2020, Lisboa – Portugal, the brackets for the most important division of the IBJJF European Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship have been released, and, as expected, we have a few very interesting matches ahead.
RELEVANT CHANGE — No More Close-Outs
One key point of interest in these brackets is the addition of a rule we had seen played to perfection by the ADCC last year. That is, adding teammates to the brackets so that they will have to face each other before the semi-finals. This is the case for Jackson Sousa / Bradley Hill (Checkmat), Igor Veríssimo / Igor Schneider (Ns Brotherhood), Rafael Vasconcelos / Rodrigo Caporal (Atos), Magda Loska / Nicole Sullivan (Atos) and Keenan Cornelius / Bruno Lima (Legion), this year.
THE FAVORITES AND DREAM MATCHES
One of the biggest surprises of the open weight is 2019’s roosterweight king, Mr. Mikey Musumeci. The open-weight class is not a division often ventured by athletes from the lower weight classes, but the most successful American competitor of all time is ready to put that dogma to the test. The draw was not particularly favorable for Musumeci who has a real gauntlet of matches ahead.
To reach the final Musumeci has to go through Italian black belt, Jacopo Pasquini, first and then, likely, 130+ kilogram (285lbs) athlete — Seif-Eddine Houmin (R2) before meeting possibly Mahamed Aly in the quarter-finals AND Keenan Cornelius in the semi-finals. An absolutely scary line-up of opponents, if he can make it through each round.
Cornelius will have a reasonably easier route through to the semi-final, with a Bye on round 1, then either Mateus Luna (Checkmat), Pedro Elias (Ns Brotherhood) or team-mate Bruno Lima as his quarter-finals rivals before an exciting re-match with Mahamed Aly or an equally “mouth-watering” duel with Mikey Musumeci, the battle of American Jiu-Jitsu.
Much like Keenan, former world champ Mahamed Aly has a bye in round 1, having as likely candidates for his 1/4 finals either Musumeci, Houmine or Braulio Estima back belt — Jakub Zajkowski.
The opposite side of the Brackets has plenty of talent as well, with a possible explosive quarter-finals match between Fellipe Andrew and Patrick Gaudio, a dream clash that, interestingly, has never taken place thus far. Whoever of these men goes through to the semi-final will have to face one of these big names: Jackson Sousa, Manuel Ribamar, Fellipe Trovo or Igor Schneider. All very tough challengers.
FEMALE DIVISION
Round one of the female absolute division brings us a dream match-up between two of the finner guard players in the game. We are talking about the rubbery American, Nikky Sullivan and Belgium’s prodigy, Amal Amjahid. Also on their side of the open-weight division are favorites such as Sabatha Laís and Jessica Flowers.
On the other side of the brackets, we have an avalanche of young talent: Ffion Davies, Bianca Basilio, Kendall Reusing, Maggie Grindatti, Larissa Campos and Charlotte Von Baumgarten. This bracket will be fire. Stay tuned.
Below are the brackets of the male division:
