Africa-Press – Angola. With the participation of 19 countries, Luanda (Angola) hosts, for the first time, the African OPEN of senior judo, male and female, to be held from Saturday, at the Kilamba pavilion.
It is the first international level event organized in the national territory in this modality, after the creation of the Angolan Judo Federation, in 1978.
In addition to Angola, the competition will count on the participation of Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Madagascar, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the guest Thailand.
In a total of 179 competitors, the Angolan delegation is the largest with 109 judokas, 63 men and 46 women, followed by the DRC with 16 (12 men and 4 women) and Senegal with 14 athletes (8 men and 6 women).
Competitively, Edmilson Pedro, 38th in the World Ranking in the -66kg category (1241 points), is the national reference, having won three gold medals, one at the African event in Oran (Algeria), last May, one at the Dakar Open and another in Yaoundé, both in November 2022.
In females, the highlight goes to Diassonema Mucungui, two gold medals at the OPEN in Dakar and Yaoundé, in November 2022, occupying the 84th position in the World Ranking, in the under-63kg category.
However, press learned from an organizational source that the African OPEN will be preceded by the Continental Cup in cadets, which starts this Wednesday and ends on Thursday.
This event, to be held in the same venue, involves only host athletes and Gambians, in a total of 46.
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