Cuban judo showcases present and future

With outstanding performances in both the Pan American Open held in the Dominican Republic and the 5^th ALBA Games, the Cuban judo showed there is talent to boast in the present and future times, at least in the continent.

The Cuban hegemony was again proven in the Dominican event since day one with the stars of the team, who are competing there to prepare for the upcoming tournaments to qualify for the Pan American Games to be held in Santiago de Chile.

Special mention deserves the gold medals earned by Orlando Polanco 66kg and Maylín del Toro, 63kg, as they faced top talent opponents. In Polanco’s case, he beat Canadian Julien Frascadore, the man who earned the gold medal in 2019, while Maylín beat Venezuelan Anriquelis Barrios, winner of several medals in different Grand Slam stages.

The event brings together a total of 204 competitors from 22 nations, mainly from the Pan-American area, but also some from Europe.

Meanwhile, on the tatami of the Judo Palace of the United Nations Park complex in Caracas, the Cuban team earned all sort of medals in all divisions, with a young delegation.

Coach Boannys Chang praised the performance of his athletes from the youth national team, for whom this is their first international competition.

The only remaining event is the team’s male and female competition. But in any case, the Cubans will finish on the top three.

Both performances show clearly the potential of our judokas in both sexes, in a year in which two major competition looms ahead, the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, and the Pan American Games in Chile.

Not to mention the World Championship, which will take place in Doha, in May, just a month before the Central American and Caribbean event.

Perhaps any junior athlete can make it to the first team to El Salvador. According to what we have saw, anything can happen, for good.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff