Havana, November 1 (RHC) – World champion Andy Granda (+100 kg) and world runner-up Ivan Silva (100 kg) were crowned in their respective divisions at the 2026 Florida Pan American Judo Open.
Silva began the tournament with a lightning victory over American Caedmon Haddad, in just 17 seconds of combat. In the quarterfinals, he repeated his victory over Luxembourg’s Micha Welter, by two yukos.
In the semifinals, he also easily dispatched Filipino Chino Sy, whom he defeated by waza-ari-awasete-ippon in less than half the allotted time.
The final was much closer against Dominican Robert Florentino, champion of the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, but the Cuban ultimately prevailed by two yukos to one.
Granda also won the gold medal with a less challenging path: he defeated local fighter Gabriel Wilson by ippon in just one minute of combat and advanced directly to the final, where he defeated fellow Dominican José Nova by hansoku-make before the end of regulation time.
These titles, added to those won on the opening day by Jonathan Charón (60 kg) and Orlando Polanco (66 kg), and the silver medals earned by Lianet Cardona (78 kg) and Dayanara Curbelo (78 kg), placed Cuba second in the overall country standings.
The competition was dominated by Venezuela with six gold medals and two silver medals. Brazil followed Cuba with one gold, three silver, and one bronze medal. The United States, Peru, and Slovenia each won at least one title in the event, which featured 193 judokas from 33 countries.
