Cuba will be the only judoka at the Paralympics

Cuba announced Friday that disabled judoka Yordani Fernandez will be its sole representative at the Tokyo Paralympics, which will be held from August 25 to September 6.

Fernandez, rated B3 (visually impaired), qualified from eighth in the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA).

This position guarantees that you will attend the second competition in the Paralympics. To stamp his visa, he earned a silver medal and 190 points at the Warwick Grand Prix, UK.

In his first participation in the Paralympics, in Rio de Janeiro 2016, the Cuban judoka won a bronze medal in the 100 kg category.

Although he considers the Tokyo championship to be “very strong”, Kobe considers his participation in the Baku and Warwick Grand Prixes has allowed him to gain the necessary points and also “observe and fight” with his main rivals, quoted this Friday by the Sportsgate website.

In his division, the final ranking places him in eighth place with 570 units and he is included in the hexagrams of B2 (deep visual weaknesses) and B3 which receive direct places according to the proposed system of assignment in the Japanese capital.

This group is headed by Iranian Mohammad Reza Khairullahzadeh B2 (1240), followed by Uzbek Shirin Sharipov B2 (1170), Georgian Revaz Chikwedze B2 (1053), South Korean Gwang Geun Choi (810) and Britain’s Jack Hodgson B2 (663).

The FIFA list identified 132 competitors with tickets to Tokyo in this system out of a total of 158 (80 men, 58 women) in 13 teams.

But the 13 nominations and those selected from the host country are expected to be announced on July 9.

The Cuban delegation to the Tokyo Paralympic Games currently has 12 members – six field and track athletes, a swimmer, a judoka, a table tennis athlete and a cyclist – plus added tickets in weightlifting by Lédes Rodriguez (41 kg) and Oniger. Drake at 88.

According to the island’s National Institute of Sport, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder), representation at the Cuban Paralympics should be increased with a new inclusion in the field of semi-sports and through the management of “two wild cars”, which would allow athletes to compete in Tokyo with weightlifters Danilo Rodriguez and Cesar Rubio.

At Rio de Janeiro 2016, the Cubans ranked 18th, with eight golds, one silver, and one bronze, and were topped by sprinter Omara Durand with three titles.