Cuban Judokas to Compete in Paris Grand Slam. Picture: File Radio COCO
Cuba will be present with 10 judokas in the Grand Slam in Paris, France, first stop of their tour of Europe, with the main objective of continuing to add points for world ranking, with a view to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
Professors Justo Noda and Armando Padron will travel to the French capital with 10 of their disciples, led by Idalis Ortiz in the more than 78 kilogram division, and Asley González (90), who will try to repeat, on February 6 and 7, the obtaining of titles, like they recently did in the Grand Prix of Havana, ACN reported on January 29.
The men’s team is completed by Magdiel Estrada (73), Ivan Silva (81), José Armenteros (100) and Alex GarcÃa (+100), while also included in the women’s team are Dayaris Mestre (48), Marciet Espinosa (63) , Onix Cortés (70) and Yalennis Castillo (78).
The competition is of great importance to improve or be included in the Olympic qualification, since winners of the 14 divisions convened will get 500 points for world ranking, which gives 22 and 14 direct tickets for men and women, in that order.
According to the tour program, the second commitments for the pupils of Noda and Padron will be the Open in Rome, Italy (m) and Oberwart, Austria (w), in both cases on February 13 and 14.
The closing of the tour will be the Grand Prix of Dusseldorf, Germany (m and w) on February 19-21, while the last chance for Cubans to score points will be the Pan- American Championship, scheduled for April 28-30 in Havana, where winners will get 400 points.
