Portuguese fighter Gonçalo Noites qualified for the -71kg muaythai final of the European Games on Monday, beating the 2022 world champion, but wants to “leave everything in the ring” for gold on Tuesday.
“It’s an incredible feeling, like yesterday. [domingo, nos quartos de final] he was. Now, I secured the silver medal, or the gold, of course. The money is already the minimum. Tomorrow we are going to give it our all, leave it all on top of the ring and try to bring the gold to Portugal”, declared the 22-year-old from the Iron Legs Academy.
In the semifinals, against the Pole Jakub Rajewski, the 22-year-old Portuguese prevailed 30-27, in three rounds, and qualified for the final, after already securing a bronze by reaching the semifinals on Sunday.
For Nights, “the gold medal is getting closer” and having beaten Rajewski, world champion in that weight class in 2022, is an “incredible” indicator of the level at which he is fighting.
Being at the European Games, which operate on a qualifying basis, unlike the World and European Games, ensures that “only the best are here.”
“Being in the final is something I really wanted and now I have made it a reality,” he concluded after the fight.
In the final, scheduled for Tuesday at 4:40 p.m. local time (3:40 p.m. Lisbon time), Noites will face the Ukrainian Oleksandr Yefimenko for gold, but he already knows that at least he will be assured of silver.
Also this Monday, Matilde Rodrigues competes in -57 kg to also reach the final, having also secured bronze by reaching the semifinals.
So far, Portugal has nine podiums in Krakow 2023, specifically three golds, three silvers and three bronzes, in addition to two other ‘metals’ already insured, in muaythai.
The third edition of the European Games takes place until Sunday in Krakow and in the Polish region of Malopolska, with 30 sports on the program and 48 participating countries, including Portugal, which has a delegation of more than two hundred athletes.
Source: TSF
