Cuban Granda wins bronze at Judo Grand Slam in Tbilisi

Cuban judoka Andy Granda won the bronze medal in the over 100 kilograms (kg) category at the closing of the Grand Slam of Judo in Tbilisi, Georgia, by defeating Slovak Marius Fizel by Ippon, a result that placed Cuba in 18th place in the tournament.

According to the International Federation's website www.ijf.org, Granda started with a warning -Shido- against him, but then his opponent received two, until the Ippon of the Caribbean's victory came when the board marked 2:49 minutes of the fight in the discussion of the bronze metal.

Previously, the outstanding Cuban athlete overcame, in that order, the Polish Kacper Szczuronski and the German Losseni Kong, but then he lost by Ippon to the Azeri Ushangi Kokauri, who sent him to the repechage still with a chance of winning.

Granda was fifth in the world ranking ( WR) and in the Olympic qualification zone (OR) for the Paris 2024 Games, so with this result he should be safe for the Parisian multi-sport event, in addition to the silver he recently won at the Grand Prix (GP) of Austria.

Cuban Idalis Ortiz (78 kg) was close to the podium, but in the fight for bronze she lost by hansoku make -three warnings (Shidos)- against Italian Asya Tavaro, after two wins and one setback.

Idalis, number 25 in the WR and bronze in the Austrian GP, defeated the Russian Anastasia Kholodilina, who competes for a neutral team, and the South Korean Hyeonji Lee, path interrupted by the French Carolina Hayme, who by immobilization technique -Ippon- sent her to the repechage, stage in which she was surpassed by Asya and concluded in fifth place.

The other two Cubans in action were Ivan Silva (90 kg), in the Olympic qualification zone and fourth in the Austrian GP, who defeated the Georgian Luka Bautside and suffered a setback against the Azeri Eljan Hajiyev, and Lianet Cardona (78 kg), who lost in her debut against the Kosovar Loriana Kuka.

Cuba finished 18th, with Granda's bronze and fifth and seventh places for Idalis and Maylin del Toro (63 kg).