HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 24 (ACN) Judoka Ivan Silva finished in fifth place in the 100 kilograms (kg) of the Grand Slam (GS) in Tbilisi, Georgia, where Cuba closed in 17th place in the medal standings by countries, thanks also to the bronze medals of Jonathan Charon (60 kg) and Maylin del Toro (63 kg).
In the Georgian city, 414 athletes competed -235 men and 179 women- representing 53 nations, led by France (3-3-4), which was escorted by Georgia (2-2-5) and the team competing under the International Federation flag (2-2-2).
The other seven countries to win at least one title were Uzbekistan (1-0-2), Canada (1-0-1), Mongolia (1-0-0), Hungary (1-0-0), Ukraine (1-0-0), Slovenia (1-0-0) and Turkey (1-0-0).
Silva, Baku 2018 world runner-up, but in the 90 kg, and bronze medalist at the recent GS of Paris and Tashkent, and gold at the Grand Prix of Linsz, began his action with victories against Mongolian Khuderchuluun Bayartsengel, by ippon, the host Imeda Gogoladze (ippon) and Brazilian Leonardo Gongalves (yuko), in that order.
He then lost in the semifinal to Netherlands' Simeon Catalina, who sent him to the repechage, stage in which he was beaten by yuko in the bronze discussion by Canada's Kyle Reyes.
The Tbilisi GS was a good opportunity to keep or climb steps in the world ranking at the beginning of the Olympic cycle that will close in Los Angeles 2028.
Silva is currently ranked 29th in the 100 kg world rankings, and moved up 16 places with the title won at the Australian tournament.
Charon, who placed fifth -he won bronze- in Tashkent, and Maylin are ranked 35th and 25th in the global ranking, respectively.
The critical route of Cuban judokas is completed with the Pan American championship in Santiago de Chile (April 25-27), the national elite first category championship (May 20-29), the world senior championship (June 13-20) in Hungary, and the youth championship (date and venue pending), and the Cerro Pelado Games in Havana (December 10-15).
Cuban judoka Ivan Silva placed fifth at Tbilisi Grand Slam