DAVAO City's Sydney Sy Tancontian fulfilled her promise to bounce back, securing a bronze medal for the Philippines in the women's +80 kilograms (kgs) event at the World Sambo Championships 2023 in Yerevan, Armenia on November 12, 2023.
The bronze accomplishment marked a notable improvement from her fourth-place finish in the 2023 Armenia NOC President's Cup in August this year, which was her first tournament after taking a nearly one-year hiatus to prioritize her studies.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Fitness and Sports Management from the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics at the University of Santo Tomas.
Kazakhstan's Arailym Abenova captured the gold medal, while Zhanara Kusanova of Fias (International Sambo Federation) 1 claimed the silver.
The 23-year-old Tancontian shared the bronze with Lauryne Lage of Fias 3.
In a statement, her father Paolo, who serves as the president of Pilipinas Sambo Federation Inc. (PSFI), said, "I expected her to enter the finals, however, 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. We strategized her bronze medal match against Romania to win the match."
He added, "Overall, I am happy with the performance of our athletes in this edition of the World Sambo Championship."
Sydney's younger brother, Chino, caused an upset by defeating the current -98kg Sport Sambo African continental champion from Egypt in the round of 16. "Chino also showed good performance in his second bout but was defeated by the elite Kazakh who was ahead of him by two points at the latter part of the match," the PSFI chief said.
Godwin Langbayan, for his part, lost his last match to a Belarusian opponent in the men's combat sambo -71kg. The elder Tancontian said Langbayan "almost knocked out his opponent, but he ran out of time."
Paolo thanked those who supported the national sambo team's campaign, including the Philippine Sports Commission, the Philippine Olympic Committee, Fias, the Sambo Union of Asia, and the Armenia Organizing Committee. MLSA