The Cuban baseball team participating in the Rotterdam tournament defeated the Netherlands 5-0 in the final, and won its fifth title in these contests.
The Cuban lefty Wilber Perez achieved h is second win against Europeans through an impeccable work for five and a third innings, in which he only conceded two hits and three walks,. Then, in the sixth, he was relieved by Raicel Iglesias, who had no problems during his performance, based mostly on his fastball.
The most outstanding Cuban batters were Alexander Malleta, with two doubles and as many RBIs in four at-bats, Andy Ibanez (3 for 5) and Yadiel Hernandez and Jose Miguel Fernandez, who both hit 2 for 4.
Dutch right-hander Rob Cordemans, who had defeated the Cuban national team in the qualifying round, took the loss this time.
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Iran defeated twice the Cuban squad at Havana’s Sports City Coliseum, during the last weekend of the World Volleyball League, so the team coached by Orlando Samuels finished in the bottom of the table of group B. However, this result, in one way or another, was expected.
The young Cuban team, most of its players are still at youth level, accuses a remarkable lack of experience and competitive rigor. It would be beneficial, as recently said to OnCuba the legendary Argentine coach Julio Velasco, “that Cubans playing abroad could be used by their national squad”.
Last week, during the broadcast of the television program “Al duro y sin guante,” some commentators talked about the idea of a possible agreement between the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER by its Spanish acronym) and athletes competing in foreign leagues. At least two of them, Roberlandy Simon and Osmany Juantorena have expressed their explicit desire to return to represent their country, but the Cuban sports movement governing bodies have offered no answers.
This year the setter Yoandri Diaz and opposite hitter Wilfredo Leon were included in the list of recurrent defections.
At the same time, the team competing in the U-19 World Volleyball Championship, based in Mexico, ended seventh after beating France 3-2. Previously, Cubans had been defeated by Russia and Argentina in the discussion of the fifth to eighth place.
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Cuban Grand Master Lazaro Bruzon will surpass again the barrier of 2700 Elo points, thanks to his recent performance at the Edmonton Chess Festival in Canada.
Bruzon totaled 23 units by achieving seven wins and two draws (three points for each success and one point for a draw) and concluded undefeated, followed by the legendary English Nigel Short (17), and local players Richard Wang ( 14) and Eric Hansen (13 ).
During the last date Bruzón signed peace with another Canadian, Robert Gardner, to ensure a crown that he had materialized from the previous date. Another Cuban, Rodney Perez, finished 5th with 11 points. This has been, when adding Bruzón´s performance and Leinier Dominguez’s feat in Thessaloniki, Greece, a great season for Cuban chess.
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Cuba has added another medal possibility for the upcoming Moscow 2013 World Athletics Championships. We should now add to triple jumper Pedro Pablo Pichardo to pole vaulter Yarisley Silva and discus thrower Yarelis Barrios. Pichardo won the gold medal with a respectable jump of 17.58 meters last Thursday during the athletics meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, the eighth stop of the Diamond League.
Pichardo , new prospect of Cuban jumping school, comes to show our evident strength in the specialty, he owns the best record of the year (17.68m), which was achieved on June 4th at the Barrientos Memorial in Havana, but this demonstration in Europe underpins much more his medal possibilities in the World Cup. Though we know that results achieved on home soil often does not correspond with the real possibilities of the athlete.
In Lausanne, Pichardo beat two monsters of the discipline as French Teddy Tamgho (17.40m) and American Christian Taylor (17.13m), current World and Olympic champion.
