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Rio de Janeiro World
Championship
Cuba reaffirms its strength in Judo
CUBA reaffirmed its strength in Judo
with an outstanding performance in the 29th World
Judo Championship, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Cuba’s Olympic champion Idalys Ortiz (+78kg) and
Asley González (90kg) won gold medals in their
respective divisions.
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Idalys Ortiz was once again
key to
the team’s success. Getty Images
Asley González wins a gold medal
in Río de Janeiro. Ricardo López Hevia. |
In addition to this accomplishment,
Cuba’s women, led by coach Ronaldo Veitía, won a
bronze medal in the team competition, defeating
South Korea, with another significant contribution
from Idalys, who won her four bouts via ippon, in
the city’s Maracanazinho gymnasium.
Placed in one of the tournament’s
most challenging groups, the Cuban women opened with
a 3-2 victory against the Mongolian team, but
subsequently lost to the Netherlands 1-4, which took
them out of the running for a gold medal.
In the second round, the women’s
team defeated Kazakhstan convincingly, despite
injuries suffered by Yanet Bermoy from Cienfuegos (finger)
and Havana’s Onix Cortés (elbow).
The Japanese once again claimed the
title, after disposing of Brazil, which improved its
position over last year, while the other bronze
medal once again went to France.
In the men’s team competition, the
Cuban judokas led by Justo Noda finished seventh,
having been called upon to compete without Asley
González, who suffered a shoulder injury. Georgia
took the championship, defeating Russia in the
final, with Germany and Japan in third place.
(SE)
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