Dabawenya Sydney Sy Tancontian eyes Paris gold after Armenia bronze finish

It’s business as usual for World No. 1 women’s sambo +80kg athlete Sydney Sy Tancontian of Davao City, who is coming off a bronze-medal finish for the Philippines at the 2025 World Sambo Cup held Sunday, June 8, in Yerevan, Armenia.

Despite the podium finish, there’s no rest for the 25-year-old Dabawenya. Tancontian is set for a packed schedule in Europe this week as she heads to Switzerland and Paris for both official duties and competition.

"Nagabyahe si Sydney papuntang ngayon baka kakasakay lang ng plane (Sydney is traveling now, she might have just boarded the plane)," her mother, Janet, said in a Messenger interview on Tuesday afternoon, June 10.

"She will attend the IOC Athletes Forum 2025 in Switzerland from June 11 to 12. She will then fly to Paris to defend her title at the Grand Prix de Paris de Sambo 2025 on June 14, where she claimed gold in last year’s edition," Janet added.

The Dabawenya athlete is representing the International Sambo Federation (FIAS) at the IOC Athletes Forum in Lausanne, Switzerland in her capacity as chairperson of its Athletes’ Commission.

In Armenia, Tancontian shared the +80kg bronze medal with Georgia’s Elene Kebadze. The gold and silver medals went to Maryia Kandratsyeva (FIAS 2) and Albina Cholombitko (Russia/FIAS 1), respectively.

Tancontian fell in her opening match via armbar submission to Cholombitko, but rebounded with a dominant 8-0 win over Croatia’s Lara Vuksanic in the repechage to clinch bronze.

She was joined at the event by fellow Filipinos Aislinn Agnes Yap, who also earned a bronze in the women’s -80kg combat sambo category, and Marwin Quirante, who competed in the men’s -58kg combat sambo division.

Tancontian has had a stellar 2025 season so far, also bagging gold medals at the USA Sambo International in Atlanta and the Asian and Oceania Sambo Championships recently. MLSA