The Pan American Championships is a continental competition but it's not as prestigious as the European Championships because there are fewer top-ranking players in the competition. The women's -63kg weight category, however, was an exception. There were five top players in that division.
In Pool A was Rafaela Silva (BRA). In Pool B, there was Prisca Awiti Alcaraz (MEX) and Maylin Del Toro Carvajal (CUB). In Pool C, there was Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (CAN). And in Pool D, there was Jessica Klimkait (CAN).
As expected, Silva, Beauchemin-Pinard and Klimkait all topped their pools and made it to the semifinal. Pool B saw a close fight between Alcaraz and Del Toro Carvajal, but ultimately the Cuban won through penalties.
Silva then defeated Cel Toro Carvajal, while Klimkait defeated her teammate, Beauchemin-Pinard, in the semifinals. This set up a tantalizing match-up in the final between Silva and Klimkait.
There was no score in regular time but Silva had the advantage in penalties. It was 2 to 1, in Silva's favor when they went into Golden Score. Once there, Klimkait fought a very tactical match, constantly attacking Silva with her favorite drop techniques. Soon enough the penalties were equal at 2 apiece. Klimkait kept up with the attacks and eventually Silva was given her third penalty, thus giving Klimkait the win.
Silva was very frustrated with Klimkait's drop attacks, which was surprising as these two are very familiar with each other, having fought 11 times prior to this competition. Perhaps Silva was upset because she had won the last two encounters they had (both times in the -63kg division rather than the -57kg division where they had fought in the past). This was the first time Klimkait had beaten Silva in the -63kg weight class.
