The bad news on the tatami continues. Cuban judo started the current season almost as negatively as the previous one ended: without medals and with a worrying image for the main competitions of the year and, in general, for the future of a discipline with a long history in the country.
And the worst, to be absolutely clear on the matter, is not the perpetual lack of joy, since the level of the Grand Slam in Paris, where ten Antilleans participated this weekend, seemed like a major challenge in the desire to “get out of the bump”. However, the fact that a good number of these fell in the first combat, joins the trend of recent times and begins to worry the followers of the discipline too much.
The best, for example, was Iván Silva, of the 90 kilograms (kg), who only won two lawsuits to win such a distinction among the Cuban navy. The remaining nine offered little resistance and almost all had to shake hands with their opponents after receiving a projection worthy of ippon.
In the case of the female cast, which presented six exponents and in which the absence of its leader, the current Olympic runner-up Idalyz Ortiz, stood out, the most positive thing that could be said is subject to the youth of almost all of them, which speaks of a necessary renovation. Athletes like Aleanny Carbonell (48 kg) or Thalía Nariño (+78 kg) debuted in this type of competition and thus began their journey at such a high level.
This is a detail to take into account. Yordanis Arencibia, the main coach of the Cuban girls, will need time to polish the talent of his “diamonds” in order to grow in the current Olympic cycle and, in the medium term, return to the old glories of the prolific stage of Ronaldo Veitía.
In the men’s, coach Julio Alderete has before him the responsibility of recovering the best level of Andy Granda (+100 kg), who fell again in his first presentation in Paris, as well as Silva himself, by far the best in the squad. The 90-kilo world runner-up, to be fair, started halfway in 2022, although compared to the previous year his initial performance could be classified as flattering.
All these assessments take on a different nuance, if one takes into account that the team arrived in France just one day before the tournament and with little chance to adapt to the weather conditions and the notable time difference. Then serve the experience for future tournaments. From now on, with an adequate training base and time, the closest competitions will be a reliable thermometer.
