Cuban judoka Maylin del Toro
Paris, February 4 (RHC)-- Cuban judoka Maylin del Toro (63 kilograms) will compete today for one of the bronze medals at the Grand Slam of Paris, after losing in the semifinals to Japan's Nami Nabekura.
In the Accor Arena multipurpose hall, the West Indian and the Japanese, who got the decisive Ippon in the third minute of the golden rule to advance to the duel for the crown, did not hurt each other during the regulation time.
Del Toro opened in the second round with a victory against the Hungarian Szofi Ozbas, very fast by immobilization (Osae-waza), and then overcame in golden rule the Portuguese Bárbara Timo, bronze medalist in the last world championship, Tashkent-2022, and runner-up in Tokyo-2019.
Also in golden rule, the Cuban left on the way in the quarterfinals the Israeli Inbal Shemesh, winner last year of the Grand Slams of Tbilisi and Baku.
Meanwhile, Arnaes Odelin (57 kilograms) fell in the third round to Japan's Funakubo Haruka, world runner-up in Tashkent-2022, by Ippon just seconds before the end of regulation time, in a close fight.
The other four Cubans who competed in the first day of the 49th edition of the Paris Grand Slam lost in their first matches.
In 48 kilograms, Zamarit Gregorio lost by Ippon to Spain's Gemma María Gómez, while in 52 kilograms, Blanca Cabrera lost by the same way to Australia's Tinka Easton.
Among the men, Orlando Polanco (60) and Magdiel Estrada (73) lost by disqualification with three warnings (Hansoku-make) to Kazakhstan's Gusman Kyrgyzbayev and Mongolia's Uranbayar Odgerel, respectively.
