• Submitted by: admin
• Sports
• 06 / 26 / 2009

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Cuba is the country with the highest number of judocas in the Top Ten by divisions of the world ranking, a list led by Japan, France and Russia, in that order.

Both the Cuban women’s and men’s teams are the regional leaders – with six athletes – followed by both Brazilian teams (4), while the Japanese, French and Russians notch up 18, 13, and 11, respectively.

Trump cards for the island are Idalis Ortiz and Oscar Braison, heavyweight stars and bronze medal winners at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, who stand in third position on the list.

Ortiz has accumulated 420 points in the 78kg-plus category after winning the silver medal at the Grand Slam in Paris and the gold medal at the Panamericano competition in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

For his part, Braison has accrued 300 points for the two silver medals he won in the men’s 100kg-plus category at the Grand Prix in Hamburg and the Panamericano in Argentina.

Completing the lineup for Cuba are Oreidis Despaigne, who finished in sixth place in the 100kg-plus division; Yordanis Arencibia, eighth in the 66kg category; Kaliema Antomachín, ninth in the 78kg; and Yasmani Piker, tenth in the 60kg category.

The most outstanding aspect of these results is that the Cubans have only taken part in three European events plus the Panamericano tournament in Argentina, according to the online edition of Jit weekly.

This ranking system will be valid for qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and even with respect to awarding direct places to the first 22 men and 14 women.

Source: ACN