José Rodolfo Falero González, national commissioner, informed the Cuban News Agency today of the 14 judokas who will be present at the judo tournament of the multi-sport event, to be held at the judo pavilion of the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center.

Among those selected, several stand out for their positions in the world ranking (WR), especially young Jonathan Charón, who appears in 15th place in the 60-kilogram (kg) category, according to the latest ranking update. Also featured are Iván Felipe Silva (100 kg), occupying 20th place, Andy Granda (+100 kg) in 23rd, and Orlando Polanco (66 kg) in 29th, while among the women, Maylín del Toro (63 kg) in 40th, Dayanara Curbelo (+78 kg) in 41st, and Lianet Cardona (78 kg) in 43rd stand out.

The rest are further back in the world ranking, including the men's team members Naysdel Cardoso (90 kg) in 125th, Marlón Herrera (73 kg) in 193rd, and Rubén Darío Romero (81 kg) in 440th. The women's team is completed by Lian Benavides (57 kg) in 80th, Anisleydis Ur López (70 kg) in 113th, and Yainet Coronado (48 kg) in 236th.

As part of their preparation, several tournaments were held, including two qualifiers for Santo Domingo: the Central American and Caribbean Cups in Panama and Guatemala, where Cuba won 24 medals — 11 gold, eight silver, and five bronze (6-4-1 and 5-4-4). The most outstanding were Andy Granda, in over 100 kg, with two titles, Orlando Polanco (66 kg/2-0-0), and Daili Sentmanat Despaigne (2 kg/2-0-0), followed by Maylín del Toro (63 kg/1-1-0), Jonathan Charón (60 kg/1-0-1), Marlon Herrera (73 kg/1-0-1), Dayanara Curbelo (+78 kg/1-0-1), and Anisleidys Ur López (70 kg/1-0-1). Next are Iván Felipe Silva (100 kg/0-2-0), Nayddel Cardoso (90 kg/0-2-0), Lianet Cardona (78 kg/0-2-0), Yainet Coronado (48 kg/0-1-0), and Rubén Romero (81 kg/0-0-1).

With these results, Cuba achieved full qualification for its men's team and six of the seven women's divisions, with the 57 kg category currently without a quota — but that was secured later. Up to that point, the best ranked by the Central American ranking were Granda, Charón, Polanco, Maylín, and Daili, all in third place. In fourth position were Dayanara and Herrera, while Lianet was fifth, and Cardoso (90 kg) was sixth, alongside Amado Montes de Oca in the same division but in eighth. Silva placed seventh, as did Anisleidys, Lianet in eighth, Romero in ninth, and Lían Benavides (57 kg) in 15th, although some judokas from various countries repeat above her, including host nation competitors. Cubans only participated in two of the five qualifying tournaments.

Judo is one of the sports with good medal possibilities for Cuba in the multi-sport event this summer in the Dominican Republic's capital.