Havana, Jan 21.- Six Cuban judo athletes will make a winter tour in European countries to participate in the Grand Prix of Paris and Dusseldorf (Germany) and the Open of Arlon (Belgium).
Cuban expert Rafael Manso, president of the National Judo Federation, announced that the Cuban judo team will travel to Europe managed by head coaches Julio Alderete (male) and Felix Portuondo (female).
The athletes are: Magdiel Estrada (division of 73 kilograms), José Armenteros (100) and Alex García (over 100 kg) as male representatives, while female athlertes will be Vanessa Godínez (48 kg), Aliuska Ojeda (57) and Kaliema Antomachin (78).
The group will depart for Europe at the end of January, and its first international commitment, will be in Paris, on February 11 and 12. From there, they will go to Arlon to take part in the Open (Feb 17 to 19), and from there, to Dusseldorf, to participate in the second stage of the Grand Prix, previous to their departure for Havana.
The participation of the Cuban judocas in tatamis Europeans will serve with sight to the Pan-American Championship of the discipline in April, and the World cup of Budapest in August.
Manso mentioned that the island will be represented in the continental event with complete teams in both sexes, which will serve as a meter for the Central American and Caribbean Games of Barranquilla-2018 (Colombia) and the Pan-American Games of Lima in 2019.