Iván Silva

Havana, Mar 9 (JIT) - Cuban Ivan Silva was crowned today at the Upper Austria Judo Grand Prix 2025, hosted by the city of Linz, in what was his first title in the 100 kg division.

He started the tournament with ippon over the young Frenchman Francois Ngayap when they barely surpassed the second minute of combat.

He then defeated Czech David Dudy by yuko at the end of the four-minute regulation period, which gave him the chance to fight for a place in the semifinals against Romanian Eduard Serban.

That bout lasted until a little over the third minute when the main judge decreed the hansoku-make for the former cadet world champion and signified the Cuban's advance.

Looking for a place in the final, Silva defeated the Ukrainian Anton Savytskiy, also by hansoku-make after eight grueling minutes. In the final he had to face Hungary's Krisztian Toth, a well-known opponent in the 90 kg category, with a record that includes two world medals and the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Silva and Toth had not met since the semifinal of the Tel Aviv 2023 Grand Slam, in which the European won after an intense fight that lasted more than seven minutes.

This time, Silva took revenge and showed a remarkable resistance for his new body weight, as he needed another Golden Rule and more than six minutes in the final to win the crown.

He thus achieved the best performance of a Cuban so far this season, and his third in personal terms, counting the two bronze medals won in the grand slams of Paris and Tashkent.

With Silva's performance, Cuba finished eighth in the overall ranking, which was led by Japan with two gold, four silver, and six bronze medals.