He judoka Cuban Andy Granda reached this Sunday one of the bronze medals in the +100 kg division in the grand slams Tashkent 2023, in Uzbekistan.
The champion of the last world event, held in that same city, had to make an effort to get a decision by hansoku-make against the local Shokhrukhhon Bakhtiyorov in the golden rule, according to report from the sports portal Hit.
Cuban world champion Andy Granda is into the next round!???#JudoTashkent #Judo #Uzbekistan #Sport #Olympics #RoadToParis2024 #OlympicQualifiers #Tashkent pic.twitter.com/fALNNmiqZO
— Judo (@Judo) March 5, 2023
He then defeated Georgian Gela Zaalishvili by ippon at 1:25 minutes into the match before losing by hansoku-make to Uzbek Alisher Yusupov.
Granda, with two shidos, was penalized for an illegal grip on his opponent’s leg in the semifinal and had to settle for the bronze medal, the media reported.
He did not present major difficulties against another local, Shokhrukhon Bakhtiyorov, whom he dispatched with an ippon in 1:34 minutes.
This result marks the return of the champion to the tatami mats and keeps Cuba in 17th place in the medal table among 49 participating countries, according to Hit.
The gold in this division went to the local Yusupov Alisher and the silver to the Japanese Saito Tatsuru.
Photo: ijf.org
The other Cuban representative on the day, the 100 kg Liester Cardona, fell in his first presentation by hansoku-make against the Kazakh Nurlikhan Sharkhan.
The event was dominated by Japan, with four gold medals, followed by the locals with three, and Austria, Georgia, Hungary, Germany, Tajikistan, Korea and Serbia with one.
Only 25 countries had representation on the podium and 14 had more than one medalist. Besides Granda, Cuba had the figure of Magdiel Estrada (73 kg), who reached bronze yesterday Saturday, recalls Hit.