Cuba Finishes Fourth in Osaka Judo Grand Slam
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Idalis Ortiz placed Cuba in fourth seat of the standings of the Osaka Judo Grand Slam 2018 by earning the crown on the women´s +78 kg division, in a tournament won by the host team with 11 gold, 8 silver and 16 bronze medals.
Ortiz won her four bouts by Ippon, with highlight for the one in the final against local Akira Sone, champion this year of the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the Hohhot Grand Prix, in China, and runner-up at the Tokyo Grand Slam 2017.
Another woman, Kaliema Antomarchi (78), also contributed to Cuba´s performance by ranking third after losing in semifinals to local Ruika Sato, monarch of the 2018 Dusseldorf Grand Slam, in Germany, to then beat Ecuadoran Vanessa Chala in the bronze-medal bout.
On Sunday, the Caribbean island was also represented by men Ivan Silva (90), who finished seventh, with two wins and two losses, and Andy Granda (+100), who said goodbye faster with balance of 1-1.
The other Cuban judokas attending this contest were women Maylin del Toro (63), who ranked 7th with 3-1 balance, and Anailis Dorvigni (57), eliminated on her debut; while men Roberto Almenares (66) lost in his second outing and Osniel Solis (60) could not fight because of a rib injury.
Japan (11-8-16) headed the standings, followed by Canada (1-1-0), the Netherlands (1-1-0) and Cuba (1-0-1), the four countries that won at least a title.
The Osaka Judo Grand Slam 2018 was attended by 421 judokas from 71 nations, looking for points for the world ranking ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. / ACN
