The ten representatives of Cuba registered to compete this February 4th and 5th at the Paris Grand Slam already know their ways after the draw this Friday. In a top-level event where the world title holder Andy Granda (+100 kg) and the Olympic and planetary multi-medalist Idalys Ortiz (+78 kg) will not participate, the great objective of the Creoles is to score points for the already active Olympic qualification ranking.
Now Cuba's biggest options are back to the most experienced Iván Felipe Silva (90 kg), Maylín del Toro (63 kg) and Magdiel Estrada (73 kg), although they have paths not exempt from complexities from the first moments. Together with them, a group of young people led by Arnaes Odelin (57 kg) and Orlando Polanco (66 kg) will look for the best possible performance.
Thus, Ivan Felipe - seeded second of the tournament and number 14 of the world ranking - was placed as the leader of group C and is waiting for the winner between the South Korean Juyeop Han and the Estonian Kristofer Klen Kaljulaid, two men without great achievements on the international circuit.
Obviously this will be an extremely close division, with the presence of Judokas such as the Georgians Luka Maisuradze - current world bronze - and Lasha Bekauri - Olympic titleholder -, the Brazilian Rafael Macedo and the Serbian Nemanja Majdov.
For his part, in the 63 kg Maylín del Toro also got a bye in the first round and will face in the next round the Hungarian Szofi Orbas, a 21-year-old who has among her merits the 2019 world youth title and the gold at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. The winner of that lawsuit will probably see the faces with the Portuguese Barbara Timo, current world tan.
Another who will also make his debut in the second round will be Magdiel Estrada (73 kg), waiting for the winner between the Mongolian Uranbayar Odgerel and the Frenchman Alexandre Rubiano. In front of both the Antillean comes out as the favorite, although he will have to use himself thoroughly in a key that has rivals such as the Brazilian Daniel Cargnin — Olympic and world bronze — and the German Igor Wandtke.
Unlike Silva, both Maylín and Magdiel will see action on the first of the two days of the tournament. On the same day, Orlando Polanco (66 kg), Zamarit Gregorio (48 kg), Blanca Cabrera (52 kg) and Arnaes Odelin (57 kg) will also compete.
Polanco -66 of the ranking - will start against Kazakh Gusman Kyrgizbayev, ranked 26th on the list but runner-up of the world in 2021 and Asian tan of 2022. Meanwhile, the debutants Gregorio and Cabrera will try to show how much they can advance against their respective rivals: the Spanish Gemma María Gómez and the Australian Tinka Easton.
Finally, on this opening date the promising Arnaes Odelin -20th in the world ranking - will start in the second round against the Georgian Mariam Tsikhelashvili. However, if the Antillean fulfills forecasts and advances to the next round, she should face the Japanese Haruka Funabuko, second in the world ranking and defending champion of the Paris Grand Slam.
For the second day, Cuba plans the participation, in addition to Silva, of Jorge Martínez (81 kg) and Liester Cardona (100 kg) among the men, while the ladies will see action only through the 2022 world youth bronzer, Idelannis Gómez (70 kg). For that trio, the big challenge will be to make the most of this opportunity at the main level, a stage rarely seen for them.
Thus, Jorge Martínez will be looking for his first victory against the local Tizie Gnamien — European silver under 23 in the last season—. For his part, Cardona will have a difficult debut against the Georgian Giorgi Beriashvili, while Idelannis has better options to advance in his debut against the French Laura Haberstock.
The Paris Grand Slam will be the first tournament of the year for Cuban judo on the IJF World Tour, the highest level circuit in this sport and the one in charge of distributing Olympic qualification points for a ranking that will constantly change until May 2024.
In fact, in the last update, the largest of the Antilles has Andy Granda, Ivan Silva, Idalys Ortiz and Magdiel Estrada in direct advance positions, while Arnaes Odelin occupies one of the quotas distributed to America.
