Silver for Cuban parajudoka Hernandez at Heidelberg Grand Prix

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 19 (ACN) Cuban Sheyla Hernandez won the silver medal on the closing day of the IBSA Judo Grand Prix, held in Heidelberg, Germany.

Outstanding performance of the silver medalist Hernandez, multi medalist of the world in the over 70 kilograms (kg), category J2 (blind), who scored points for the world ranking ( WR) that defines the Olympic Ranking ( OR) for the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024.

Places for 54 male and 48 female athletes will be allocated based on the ranking ratio, while France will receive places as the host country.

Sheyla lost in the title discussion to Kazakhstan's Zarina Raifova, and moved closer to the second position of the Paralympic ranking held by Italy's Carolina Costa and the leader, Brazil's Rebeca Silva, whom she defeated at the Santiago 2023 Parapan American Games.

Cuba also participated with Yordanis Fernandez Sastre (J2 +90 kg) and Yonaldy Gonzalez (J1, severe visual impairment/ 60 kg), all under the tutelage of coaches Ivis Dueñas and Victor Sanchez, in the first competitive commitment of the year.

Unfortunately, Fernandez Sastre could not compete because the validation exam for his medical-functional category was not completed until the next event, Sanchez informed JIT today.

However, the Cuban appears in the third place of the ranking, since the now winner, the Iranian Vahid Nouri, was the third and moved up to the second place.

Gonzalez, eighth in the Paralympic list, did not have the same luck, as he lost the opportunity to place among the first seven of the division, losing in his first fight against Ukrainian Mikola Rudnik, but he keeps the real possibilities of qualifying for the multisport event in Paris.