Havana.- Then Despite the fact that Olympic and world multiple-medallist Idalys Ortiz did not go out to compete due to suffering from her elbow injury, Cuba has all hopes of reaching a prize at the World Judo Championships in Doha 2023. Andy Granda But she stayed on.
The man from Matanzas gathered not only the expectation of losing, but the ability and confidence that being world champion in the +100kg category gave.
He came out in the second round to defend his title against Senegal’s Mabagnik Ndiye, lasting just over two minutes on the mat, before losing to Cuba’s Ippon.
In the third round he faced 22-year-old Hungarian Richard Sipocz, world multiple-medallist in the junior category, who called for two minutes of overtime to score the ippon.
In the quarterfinals he was surprised by Russian Inal Tasoyev, who got a waza-ari with just over a minute left to go in regulation time.
Granda tried to calm down, but she only Shido To leave the competition field to the Russian, who found a way to preserve his victory in escape.
Thus he had to fight through repechage for the bronze medal. In that instance, Brazilian Rafael Silva, Olympic and world multiple-medallist, was measured.
The bout was a “marathon” even as they arrived with two Shidos As per the golden rule, mark both at the same time.
Without taking any action, the judge stopped the match at the end of seven minutes and penalized Granda for inaction, giving the victory to Brazil, who later won the bronze medal.
World No. 2 Uzbek Alisher Yusupov also had to end a brilliant day from Russian Tasoyev and settle for another bronze.
If Granda’s defeat from Inal still sounds like an inexplicable slip-up to you, perhaps you should know that Slavs were left behind, in addition to Cubans and Uzbeks, world runner-up Ushangi Kokouri, a Georgian representing Azerbaijan. , and multiple-medallist Dutch World Cup, Roy Meyer.
Tasoyev’s exploits continued until the final against the great Teddy Renner, who needed almost eight minutes to score a waza-ari that earned him his eleventh world-level gold medal.
Doubts about whether Rainer would be in shape for Paris 2024 in his quest for his fourth Olympic gold medal were dispelled during this day in Doha.
Japan got the fifth gold medal in this world championship in +78 kg category. At just 22 years old, Olympic and world champion Akira Son became a multiple world champion by defeating French Julia Tolofua in the final.
Brazilian Beatriz Souza became a six-time world medalist, receiving one of the bronze medals. Of course, the title remains elusive for him.
Israeli Raz Hershko, ranked second in the rankings, got a second bronze medal, which she added to the Olympic medal of the same color she received at Tokyo 2020, albeit in the mixed team tournament.
With Granda’s seventh place, the Greater Antilles was ranked 26th out of 99 countries, a performance below its presentation at Tashkent 2022.
Japan established itself as the biggest force in the sport in the world and dominated the nation with five titles, two sub-titles and four bronze medals.
France, with two gold medals, three sub-titles and two bronze, finished second on the medal table as expected, and Georgia with the same number of titles, one silver and one bronze, finished third.
Only four other countries (Israel, Canada, Spain and Switzerland) achieved gold medals and only 22 were entitled to at least one metal.
These figures do not count the gold and silver medals won by Russian athletes who competed under a neutral flag and who finished fourth in the intercontinental event.
Cuba was the third best ranked country in the Pan American Judo Confederation (CPJ) after Canada and Brazil.
