Luanda - Angola hosts from April 4 to 7 the African judo "OPEN" in various categories, with the participation of 21 countries, the vice-president of the Angolan Judo Federation (FAJ) Josemar Frederico told ANGOP Tuesday.
Taking place for the second time in a row in the country, after last year's edition, held in Luanda, the event will include athletes from the cadet, junior and senior in both men and women categories.
Josemar Frederico said the aim is to collect the highest number of points for the athletes to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris (France) in September this year and that the competition would include a total of 339 athletes, 100 of them Angolans.
Francisco added that Angola will also be represented by six judges and an equal number of timekeepers, all accredited by the International Federation.
The event precedes the African Championships to take place on April 23-26 in Cairo (Egypt).
António Candeeiro (73kg), Adriano Tchissende (90kg), Piter Silva (100kg), Andreza António (57kg), Jeovana Freire (57kg), Leonardo Barros (60kg), Maria Niagi (70kg) and Aisha Maurício (58kg) are among the Angolan athletes with a chance of getting a pass to "Paris`2024".
In addition to Angola, Bosnia Herzegovina, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Panama, Paraguay, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Uruguay, Morocco and the Democratic Republic of Congo will be taking part.
The OPEN, which qualifies for the Olympic Games, is a competition on the official calendar of the African Confederation and the International Judo Federation.
In the last edition, Angola won four gold medals, the same number of silver medals and 19 bronze medals in the seniors.
In juniors, they won four gold medals, ten silver and 15 bronze, while in cadets they won 12 gold, 10 silver medals and eight bronze.
IN/MC/TED/AMP
