Havana, March 24 (RHC) – Cuba dominated the 2026 Central American Judo Cup in Panama by winning medals in 11 of the 14 divisions in competition.
As expected, stars Jonathan Charón (60 kg), Orlando Polanco (66 kg), and Andy Granda (+100 kg) won their respective divisions, leaving no doubt as favorites.
Marlon Herrera (73 kg) also triumphed, easily defeating the top-ranked competitor in the region, Mexican Ulises Méndez.
Dali Sentmanat (52 kg) stole the show by winning the title after convincingly defeating all his rivals.
Similarly, Anisleydis Ur (70 kg) exceeded expectations by taking the gold medal without receiving any points against her.
Colombian Francisco Balanta surprised Iván Silva (100 kg) in a golden rule penalty for the gold medal, relegating him to second place.
Naysdel Cardoso (90 kg) also won the silver medal, after falling in the final to Mexican Diego Díaz. In the same division, Amado Montes competed for the bronze medal but was unable to defeat Sinisterra Caicedo, finishing in fifth place.
Maylín del Toro (63 kg) also had to settle for second place, as she faced Mexican Prisca Awiti, the Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalist, in the final, losing by waza-ari-awasete-ippon.
Lianet Cardona (78 kg) couldn’t overcome the favorite, Colombian Brenda Olaya, the junior world champion, but still finished as the runner-up.
After falling in the semifinals to Colombia’s Brigitte Carabalí by hansoku-make, Dayanara Curbelo had to compete for the bronze medal against Karra Hanna of the Bahamas, whom she defeated by ippon in just over a minute.
Rubén Romero (81 kg) finished in fifth place. Yainet Coronado (48 kg) was eliminated in her first match against Mexico’s Kassandra Espinosa, as was Lian Benavides (57 kg).
With six titles, four runner-up finishes, and one bronze medal, Cuba dominated the tournament, finishing ahead of Mexico (3-1-6).
Colombia took third place in the overall standings with two gold, four silver, and five bronze medals.
The Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Panama also had athletes reach the top of the podium.
This event awards points for the area ranking, valid for qualification to the Central American and Caribbean Games of Santo Domingo 2026, so the Cuban performance can be considered very good.
