Brazilian University Games 2012 opened in Foz do Iguaçu

FOZ DO IGACU – The city of Foz do Iguacu (Parana) will host some of the best Brazilian athletes in the country’s largest university competition: the Brazilian University Games (OUJUBs) 2012. From October 18^th to 27^th, around 3,000 athletes from 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District will compete in four team sports (basketball, futsal, handball and volleyball) and four individual sports (athletics, judo, swimming and chess).

FISU Vice-President & CBDU President Luciano Cabral

The competition brings together names of the new generation of national university and Olympic sports. Sarah Menezes, gold medal in judo at the Olympic Games London 2012, competed for her university and won gold medal at the Brazilian University Games in 2010. This year she was back to light the torch during the Opening Ceremony of the Games at Itaipu, the world´s largest hydroelectric power plant.

“We hope to have in Rio 2016 a lot of other Sarah Menezes, young athletes that compete in university tournaments, practice, study and get to the higher level. This year we also achieved the 60^th edition of the Brazilian University Games and we are happy to celebrate this number”, said Luciano Cabral, president of Brazilian University Sports Confederation (CBDU) and vice-president of FISU, during the Opening Ceremony.

Others sports revelations will compete at OUJUBs 2012 as sprinter Aldemir Gomes, the first-placed in the national ranking in the 100m and 200m and Brazilian representative at the 2012 Olympic Games in London; Ronald Julião, bronze medal in shot put at 2011 Universiade in Shenzhen (China); the judoka Flavia Gomes, silver medallist at the Grand Slam in Rio de Janeiro; chess FIDE Master Vinícius Tiné, champion of OUJUBs 2011 and placed tenth at the World University Championship Chess 2012 in Guimarães, Portugal.

High profile student-athletes of basketball, futsal and volleyball will also be attending the event in Foz do Iguaçu. In women’s handball, the team at the University of Paraná (Unipar) has players that won an unprecedented medal at the 2010 YOG in Singapore, like Daise Souza, Fernanda Marques, Larissa Araújo and Keila Alves.

The Brazilian University Games 2012 officially opened this Thursday, October 18^th, with the Opening Ceremony and the first round of the chess tournament, played in seven rounds Swiss system in two hours for each player moving parts.

From October 19^th to 21^st the individual competitions will take place: athletics, swimming, judo and chess. The team sports tournaments begin on October 23^rd with the qualifying matches; the semi-finals and finals will be on October 26th and 27th. It will be more than 420 matches during the five days of competition in Foz and the entry is free to the public at all sports venues.

(Source: Pollyanna Padua, CBDU Media Officer)