Paris Grand Slam, first event for Cuban judo in 2023

HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 9 (ACN) The Grand Slam of Paris will be the first competition for Cuban judo in 2023, a year with an extensive international calendar, including the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador and the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile.

The Paris competition will take place on February 4 and 5 at the Accor Arena, with the presence, so far, of 385 athletes -234 men and 151 women- from 59 countries.

Four Cuba judokas are registered, led by Andy Granda, and they are joined by Orlando Polanco (66 kg), Vanessa Godinez (48 kg) and Melissa Hurtado (52 kg), who are ranked 63rd, 123rd and 61st in the World Ranking, respectively.

Another important commitment the Cubans plan to attend, with their sights set on Paris, is the World Championship in Doha, Qatar, from May 7 to 14, while from June 23 to July 8 they must compete with full teams in the Centrocaribes in San Salvador.

October will be the month of another key event, the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile, from October 20 to November 5, but before that, from 4 to 7, the juniors must compete in the world championship in Coimbra, Portugal.

Cubans were in 2022 in a qualifying tournament for the Salvadoran competition in Panama City, where they won five gold medals, five silver medals, five bronze medals and two fifth places -they competed for bronze-.