Featherweight Hayley Curtis returned from the largest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Nogi Tournament in Europe with a bronze medal last week.

Sponsored by Hartford Homes, she and Callum Perry were representing Gracie Barra Isle of Man at the IBJJF Nogi European Championship over four days in Rome.

The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation is the leading tournament organisation for Gi (wearing the Kimono) and Nogi (Rashguard and shorts) in the world and titles are hard fought at the highest level.

Having previously won the British championship and medalled at the European champs, Curtis has been very active on the competition circuit this year having fought in nine tournaments thus far.

Several factors affected the start of her divisional match which meant she took a default bronze but qualified for the absolute category which mixes all ages and weights against those who have medalled in their respective weight divisions.

Disappointed with the result within her division, she faced a middleweight medallist in the quarter-finals and quickly channelled that energy into a powerhouse performance, dominating the heavier opponent from the start and convincingly winning with a seven-point lead by the end of the match.

She faced the Super Heavyweight European Champion in the semi-final when the odds were stacked against her. But, propelled by her earlier performance, she countered everything the significantly heavier opponent had to offer and took the lead on points shortly after hitting an almost impossible reversal from a bottom position.

Unfortunately, the tables turned late on and the super heavyweight managed to win by a narrow margin of two points.

A highlight of the day, the match was discussed by many spectators, coaches and competitors as a great example of how technique had, for most of the match, overcome strength and weight.

Middleweight Perry took the place of injured team-mate Colin Everden on two weeks’ notice but put everything into his training, having remained consistent throughout the year.

A large bracket saw Perry take on a very experienced Dagestan grappler in the qualifying rounds, making for an exciting exchange of take downs and strategic positioning. Unfortunately, the Isle of Man competitor lost out on points in a division which saw his opponent ultimately win silver in the final.

It was very apparent that Perry deserved to be there performing so well at that level.

In addition to Rome, Gracie Barra Isle of Man sent squads to the IBJJF Gi European Championship 2023 in Paris, bringing home a European champion and several medallists, and still have the IBJJF Kids European Championship 2023 in Dublin along with the IBJJF Nogi World Championship at Las Vegas in December to go.

Head coach Conrad Roberts, who accompanied the pair to Italy, added: I’m immensely proud of their performances, their attitude to training and how professionally they represented the squad and the Isle of Man.

‘Amongst watching IBJJF and ADCC World Champions compete at the event from around the globe and from all affiliations we were able to speak and spend time with some of the sport’s best competitors and coaches.

‘It was truly an international, large scale event unmatched in most other combat sports.’