Cuban judoka Mestre debuts today in Grand Slam of Baku

HAVANA, Cuba, May 6 (acn) Cuban Dayaris Mestre, 48 kilograms, will debut today at the Grand Slam of Baku, Azerbaijan, event that will be attended by 449 judokas -280 men and 169 women from 76 countries.

According to the website of the tournament, Mestre currently appears 13th in the Olympic ranking, and her first fight will be against the winner of the match between Asaramanitra Ratairson, from Madagascar, and Russian Nataliya Kondratyeva.
The Cubans who will be in action tomorrow are Maricet Espinosa (63), Onix Cortés (70), Magdiel Estrada (73) and Ivan Silva (81) and their opponents will be Russian Pari Surakatova, Greek Elisavet Teltsidou, Mohammed Alharbi, from Saudi Arabia, and Moldovan Valeriu Dominica.
Meanwhile, Yalennis Castillo (78), Idalis Ortiz (+78), Jose Armenteros (100) and Alex Garcia (+100) will debut on Sunday, while Asley González (90) traveled to Azerbaijan, but is not among those registered.
Gonzalez, Olympic silver medalist and world champion, is Cuba's main trump card in the men's event and he is currently recovering from a slight discomfort in his right shoulder, so that decision responds to a strategy by Coach Justo Noda.
So far, the only Cuban outside the zone of direct Olympic qualification -22 men and 14 women- is Silva, so this will be a good opportunity to achieve his aspirations, as the champion of each of the 14 divisions will earn 500 points.
Another variant to reach the ticket to Rio de Janeiro is the continental ranking, which is granted to the country.
The end of the road to Rio de Janeiro finishes on May 30 th, so there only remain the Grand Prix of Almaty, Kazakhstan, from May 13 to 15 and the World Masters of Guadalajara, Mexico (27-29), events that will only be attended by the first 16 judokas of each division.