Cuban judokas increase preparation for Pan American Championships

The 17 Cuban judo athletes who will participate at the Pan American and Oceania Championships in Santiago de Chile 2025, from April 25 to 27, are stepping up their preparation on the tatami of the Cerro Pelado High Performance Athletes Training Center, in Havana.

According to the International Federation's website www.ijf.org, so far 159 athletes -89 men and 70 women- from 18 countries are registered for the tournament, including Cuba, which will be present with nine men and eight women, led by Andy Granda, in the over 100 kilograms (kg), Ivan Silva (100 kg), Maylin del Toro (63 kg) and Jonathan Charon (60 kg).

They recently toured Europe, participating in the Grand Slam (GS) of Paris, Tashkent and Tbilisi, and the Grand Prix (GP) of Linz, and training camps, with a highlight for the Olympian Silva, world runner-up in Baku, but in the 90 kg.

During his European tour, Silva won the Linz GP title, bronze medals at the Paris and Tashkent GS, and finished in fifth place (bronze) at the Tbilisi GS, results that guaranteed him points for the world ranking (WR), where he is ranked 29th in his new division.

The other close to the podium was Charon, who finished fifth -discussed bronze- in Tashkent, while Granda, world champion in Tashkent 2022 and fifth place in the Parisian multisport event, had to interrupt the tour due to personal problems, but continued his preparation in Cerro Pelado.

Before returning to Havana, Granda won the bronze medal at the Tashkent GS and is number six in the RM, a list in which Charón and Maylín are ranked 35th and 25th, respectively.