The best fight of the 2008 Judo World Cup final, which ended yesterday, was between light heavyweights Leonardo Leite, from Flamengo, and Luciano Correa, from Minas.

Well-prepared, more energetic, and confident, Leonardo Leite maintained his lead, scoring two yukos against the Minas Gerais native's one koka. However, the referee ruled that Leonardo had committed a false attack and awarded the victory, by wazari, to Luciano Correa, who didn't even land a single blow on the red-and-black.

For the judoka and Flamengo's coaching staff, the referee's interpretation was unfair and seen as absurd: "There's no such thing anywhere in the world as being penalized twice in a row, 15 seconds before the end of a fight. It's not the first time something like this has happened to me, to take away a victory," he told the press as he stepped off the podium, with the silver medal on his chest.

Jomar Carneiro, CRF's coach and Leonardo's coach since he was nine, agreed that the refereeing team acted hastily in handing down two consecutive penalties to the Rio native, who had virtually assured victory. "It's not normal to issue two penalties within less than twenty seconds of each other."

Now, the focus will be on the Senior Pan American Games, which will be held in Miami, United States, between May 8th and 12th. The Brazilian team left for Florida on Tuesday morning (May 6th).

The individual competitions will be on the 8th and 9th. The team competition will be on the 10th. At the Senior Pan American Games, Brazil will be represented by seven athletes in the men's category, including the determination and power of the red-and-black Leonardo Leite, in the light heavyweight category (-100kg).

Photo: Alexandre Cappi