Sydney Sy-Tancontian again made the Philippine flag flying proudly in the world stage following another bronze-medal finish in the women’s sports sambo +80 kg of the 2023 World Sambo Championship in Yerevan, Armenia.
Sydney defeated a Romanian foe in their quarterfinal for a sure bronze medal, but suffered a closely fought match against Abenova Arailym of Kazakstan in the semifinals, no thanks to an infraction and point deduction that cost her the match and a final slot.
Arailym eventually won the gold after beating Kusanova Shanara, who fought under the banner of the International Sambo Federation.
“We strategized his bronze-medal match against Romania to win the bout. I expected her (Sydney) to enter the finals. But she encountered an error in her quarterfinals match, and she was given a penalty point in the last 50 seconds of the bout with Kazakhstan,” said Paolo Tancontian, president of the Pilipinas Sambo Federation.
The win preserved Sydney’s reputation as the highest-rated Sambo athlete in the country. She also bagged the bronze in the 2020 World Sambo Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.
Sydney’s brother Chino won his first bout against the current African Continental Champion from Egypt, but lost by two points against a Kazakh bet in the next round of his event in the men’s sport sambo -98 kg
Phnom Penh SEA Games’ kun bokator bronze medalist Godwin Langbayan, the third athlete making up the team in the World Championship, also lost a close match against a Belarus opponent in the preliminary round of the -71kg Combat Sambo.
“Overall, I am happy with the performance of our athletes in this edition of the World SAMBO Championship,” added Tancontian.
“With our sincere gratitude, we would like to thank you very much for everyone’s support of our campaign. Thank you very much to the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, our IF the International SAMBO Federation, the SAMBO Union of Asia, and the Armenia Organizing Committee for the wonderful opportunity to showcase our athlete’s hard work in training.”
Before going to Armenia, the three athletes trained in Japan along with their teammates in the national squad.
