The three judoists competing today for Cuba in the sixth day of the World Championship in Budapest were left without podium options: Zail Ramirez (100 kilograms), Lisrialis Gonzalez, and Lianet Cardona, competitors in the 78 kg.
Cardona, 21, lost in the round of 16 to Germany’s Anna Monta Olek, fourth in the ranking, an athlete who took a clear advantage by scoring a Yuko and a Waza-ari against the Antillean.
In her debut, the Cuban athlete left 18-year-old Uzbekistani Marjona Kuchimova in the second round of the 78, by a Yuko, but then she could not defeat the German in the bout that defined the advance to the pool B discussion (quarterfinals).
Gonzalez, also an 18-year-old judoka, advanced to the round of 16 after Israel’s Inbar Lanir, the Paris 2024 Olympic runner-up, failed to show up, before losing to Slovenia’s Metka Lobnik, who scored a Yuko and two Waza-aris in the quarterfinals.
Ramirez, 19, won in the first round by a Waza-ari against Guinea’s Abdoulaye Millimono, but in the second round he was eliminated by an Ippon from Kazakhstan’s Marat Baikamurov.
So far, Cuba’s best performance in the tournament was in charge of Orlando Polanco in the 66 kilograms category, where Orlando Polanco was a semifinalist, finishing in a meritorious fifth place.
Cuba traveled to Budapest with nine representatives, with the super heavyweight (over 100 kilograms) Andy Granda as the only one with medal possibilities, according to forecasts, as he is ranked sixth in the universal ranking and has in his record the title of world champion of the division in Tashkent 2022 and came close to the Olympic podium last year in Paris.
