Brazil announce team for Judo World Cup

Four Rio 2016 Paralympic medallists and two promising new faces will represent Brazil at the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Judo World Cup to be held in Antalya, Turkey, from 18-27 April.

Rebeca Silva, 17, and Thiago Silva, 19, will be joined by more established names such as Antonio Tenorio, Wilians de Araujo, Alana Maldonado and Lucia Araujo.

Judo history-maker Tenorio won silver in the men’s -100kg at Rio 2016, his sixth consecutive medal at a Paralympic Games. The 47-year-old sealed gold on his debut at Atlanta 1996 and followed that up with three more titles, becoming the world’s first judoka to do so. He also took bronze at London 2012.

Araujo won silver in the women’s -57kg at the 2016 Paralympics, repeating her performance from the previous edition. Another silver medallists from Rio 2016 included de Araujo (men’s +100kg) and Maldonado (-70kg).

All six judokas competed at the recent International Infraero competition in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 17 March, where the hosts secured 11 golds.

They were then joined by judokas from Argentina, France, Great Britain, Puerto Rico and USA at the Paralympic Training Centre in Sao Paulo to put the finishing touches to their preparations for Antalya.

The World Cup will provide points towards the world rankings and will serve as preparation for November’s IBSA Judo World Championships in Lisbon, Portugal, and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Full team

Alana Martins Maldonado- -70kg

Antonio Tenorio Silva - -100kg

Lucia da Silva Teixeira Araujo - -63kg

Rebeca de Souza Silva - +70kg

Thiego Marques da Silva - -60kg

Wilians Silva Araujo - +100kg