AFTER a challenging yet memorable experience in the recent 2018 World Youth and Juniors Sambo Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia, Sydney Sy Tancontian of Philippine Sambo Federation Inc. (PSFI), also known as Pilipinas Sambo, will have another try in the World Sambo Championships 2018 slated on November 9-11 in Bucharest, Romania.
The 2017 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) judo bronze medalist and former back-to-back University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women's judo champion will embark on another journey against seasoned international sambo athletes.
Tancontian, 18, bowed out of contention in Georgia after losing to a Belarussian in the second match that supposedly would give her a chance in a medal match.
The brown-belt judoka, who officially shifted to sambo in 2015, however, won her first match against an Uzbekistan athlete which definitely boosted her morale.
"I felt rewarded na nag pay off po ang training ko and at first, there is always this thought na they are dominating the sport and I won't be able to perform at my best. Pero ika nga po nila, it's all in the mind," Tancontian said.
She is continuously training in Manila in preparation for her second-straight World Sambo Championship stint.
Tancontian will compete in the women's +80kg division as she will be joined by veteran judoka Ronald Diño who will vie in the men's -100kg division.