In its last match in the group stage of the IV World Series of Boxing, the Domadores lost the undefeated condition brought from the previous nine presentations. The Cuban team lost on Wednesday (2-3 ) during its visit to the Moscow Arena in the Russian capital. The setback had no impact on the Cuban leadership in poule B, since it had already secured that position in the previous match against Baku Fires. The scene was ready for the quarter-final match in which the franchise will face the USA Knockouts in two matches that Miami will host on March 28 and Havana on April 4, respectively. This pairing somehow revives bilateral those matches that occurred between amateur teams from both countries during the seventies and early nineties of the last century. It will also be the return of a Cuban Olympic squad to American soil after nearly fifteen years of absence. The last time it was there was in 1999 when Houston hosted the world championship. This upcoming meeting has another detail that helps to increase the attention of the boxing universe: the current head coach of the USA Knockouts is the Cuban Pedro Roque. "Peter" was for many years the...

Four Cuban were protagonists of the first All-Star Game of women's professional basketball in Brazil: Yakelin Plutin , Ariadna Capiró , Yulianne Cruz and Lisdeivis Víctores . The game took place as part of the celebrations for the International Women's Day, at the " Lineu de Moura " arena in San Jose, and included a fitting tribute to the players who won the world title in 1994, and to several actions on the prevention of breast cancer . The most important Brazilian players in this season competed on the court with a team of their foreign peers. In the latter team were the Cuban girls and Lisdeivis directed it. The match, closed from start to finish, ended with victory for the “foreigners” by 78-73 (36-40, first half). Plutin was the MVP of the game by scoring 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 turnovers. Ariadne also shone: 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. For the local team the highest figures were for Erika de Souza and Jaqueline Silvestre, with 14 and 11 points, respectively. It is worth noting that the foreigners’ team included besides the Cubans several American players ( all active in the WNBA), including the guard Briann Jolie...

The upcoming edition of the World Cup, which will be held at several cities in Brazil, may count among its players with a young Cuban, Jhoen Lefont. Record-Guinness holder on ball control, 1503 hits to the ball in the water (floating) this Cuban,26, tries to successfully carry out a project that allows him to seduce with his talent, the fans of the most universal of all sports, which will gather in beaches, stadiums and streets of the South American nation. Jhoen agreed to talk with OnCuba on the details of this project, the moment it is now and other goals to accomplish in this 2014. Where did this idea of creating a project that allows you to be a direct participant in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil come from? It all started after achieving my last Guinness Record at the Hotel Nacional. My friend and representative Miguel Angel Pino and I noticed that my sport was perfectly linked with music , dance, choreographed water ballet , audiovisual media such as giant screens , and thus arrange a sports and cultural event that would serve to bring ball control in the water along the beaches and pools, not only in...

The Cuban pole vaulter Yarisley Silva became world champion in the last day of the indoor championships held at the Polish city of Sopot. Yarisley secured the gold medal for being the only athlete to surpass in the first attempt the bar at 4.70 meters high, as the other three finalists surpassed that mark did it after failing once or twice. The next height at which the bar was lifted to (4.75m) turned out to be elusive to all, including the outdoor 2012 champion, Jennifer Suhr, who had resigned 4.70m. It was a competition where the world's leading exponents of the pole participated. Besides Yarisley and Suhr, between the twelve athletes in the final were Brazilian Fabiana Murer , the German Silke Spiegelburg , British Holly Bleasdale and Polish Anna Rogowska. Ultimately none of them accompanied the Cuban on the podium, as the silver medals (two were given since they finished with identical results) corresponded to the Russian Anzhelika Sidorova and Czech Jirina Svoboda. Silva, born in the province of Pinar del Río accumulated a single failure before her winning 4.70m, who was also her best of the season. After resigning the initial 4.30m, she began her jumping sequence consecutively...

The Cuba Domadores reached this Friday their ninth victory in a row in the 4th World Series of Boxing (WSB ) organized by the AIBA. It was the last presentation of the Caribbean squad in Havana’s Sports City during the group stage of the tournament. The Cubans beat the Azerbaijan’s Baku Fires 3-2 perpetrators thus confirming their status as leaders in poule B, and now accumulate 27 points and balance of 39 wins with only 6 losses. On the day prior to this match, minutes before the weighing and press conference, OnCuba spoke with Professor Alcides Sagarra about the expectations a possible meeting in the quarter-final stage, between the franchises of Cuba and the United States is generating. Professor, when only two stops remaining to the end of the qualifying stage of the IV World Series, the sights of the followers of Cuban boxing is laid on the possibility of a quarterfinal duel between the Domadores and the USA Knockouts. This pairing, somehow revive those bilateral matches that took place between amateur teams from both countries during the seventies and early nineties of the last century. We would want to know your opinion on this future confrontation “When you are...

The image of a Cuban flag on his ice skates accompanied Eddy Alvarez in the men’s short track 5 000 m relay in the 22nd edition of Winter Olympic Games that finish today in the Russian city of Sochi. The silver medal he got, along with his teammates Chris Creveling, Jordan Malone and J. R. Celsky, represented the second time in which a Cuban descendant athlete reaches the podium in these events, after Jennifer Rodríguez won two bronze medals in Salt Lake City 2002. "The pressure had grown much ... we do not go home empty handed and that's wonderful," Eddy said once the race had finished, where Russia won the title and third place went to the Chinese team. The problem is that the previous presentations of this 24 year old young man in Sochi, in the individual events, had been marked by bad luck. In the 1500 meters he was disqualified for a collision with an Italian skater; at 1000 meters he was downed by a Canadian athlete, and in the specialty for best previous performances (500 meters), bronze in 2013 World Cup, he slipped and had no options to move forward. Even the semifinal also had its...

Still no rival fighter has managed to win a combat in the ring installed in the Coliseum of the Havana’s Sports City of the as part of the IV World Series of Boxing (WSB). This Friday the defending champions of the event, the Kazakh Astana Arlans club was swept by the Cuban Domadores. It was the perfect night for Cubans at home, which secured them the leadership of Group B after winning all eight matches that they have undertaken, accumulating 24 points with a couple of matches left in the schedule. Now they present balance of 36 wins and just 4 defeats. The audience of the island is looking forward to the start of the decisive phase of WSB to see their boxers face major figures of other franchises. And, so far, from the strategy of other clubs of continuously rotating their fighters, the vast majority of the athletes that have arrived in Havana are on second and third level. Not even the Kazakhs, which in their capacity as champions and owners of a recognized school for its undisputed quality, came with at least one man whose performance on the ring deserved praise from the fans. The Cuban squad, disregarding...

In the framework of the celebration of the XXIII International Book Fair the Calendario Prizes of 2014 were presented, given by the Hermanos Saíz Association to young writers of the island. In the category of essay the award went to “¿Es fácil ser hombre y difícil ser negro? Masculinidad y estereotipos raciales en Cuba (1898-1912)”, by Cuban Maikel Colón Pichardo. This is a research that approaches, from a new perspective one of the main themes in the evolution of the Cuban nation. In an exclusive interview to OnCuba, Maikel agreed to speak on regard to the impact of the race in our national history, also about the reality of that issue in Cuba nowadays. How much has race as a category of social distinction marked the formation process of the Cuban nation? It has done it in an exorbitant dimension. The curious thing of the topic is from my point of view, that it was a recurrent issue in each one of the processes that cemented this formation, although people always tried to produce a rhetoric that erase all the bad division it had propitiated, it went so deep that still today keeps generating nasty experiences, among over all in...

Daring and social commitment meet in the last text of Cuban researcher Julio César González Pagés: “Pingueros en la Habana” (male prostitutes in Havana), work presented on Friday at the Cuba Pavilion, in the framework of the International Book Fair. Life stories of 150 male adolescents and youth in the island between 1998 and 2012, who exercised prostitution in certain areas of the capital are revealed in this study, in which also the past returns in the hand of characters as " Manolo Tolete " Galician porn actor who decades ago was settled in the city . Made in digital format the book breaks the silence that has accompanied a subject marked by its many complexities. The existence of a significant number of Cuban men, whose employment or making a living rests in sex work; it is a phenomenon that institutional agendas and the media erroneously prefer to hide. In the pages of this book La Rampa is more than the ideal spot for moviegoers, the Malecon doesn’t only host loving couples, fishers and drunkards; in the Fraternity Park people don’t only wait for buses or taxis, and few meters from the statue of José Martí, in Central Park, people...

The possibility was just glimpsed and expectations enormously grew up. The quarter-finals of the World Series of Boxing may face in one of its matches the Cuba Domadores against USA Knockouts. This would mean the return of a Cuban Olympic squad to U.S. soil after several years without competing in the rings of that nation. There's more: the board of the American Airlines Arena, home of the NBA team Miami Heat, already began talks to be the venue, if the match takes place. Cuba was absent in the universal tournament hosted by Chicago in 2007. The last visit of a senior national team dates back to 1999 in the world championship in Houston; marked by several controversial decisions of the referees in the final fights, which led to the withdrawal of the Cuban team, coached at the time by Professor Alcides Sagarra. Previously, Cuban squads had won the boxing events of Atlanta 1996 Olympics, Indianapolis 1987 Pan American Games, and the world championship held in Reno a year before. The story also includes the Cuba-United States Bilateral Matches , which occurred in the 70s and 80s of last century in several cities in both countries, which are revealed now as...

The Cuban spiker Leonardo Leyva established yesterday a new world record in scoring for a four-set match. Leyva, undisputed leader of the Samsung Blue Fangs club, scored 53 points against Korean Air Jumbos, a franchise where another Cuban player, Maikel " the Russian " Sánchez , performs. The meeting ended with victory for the Samsung three sets to one (28-30, 30-28, 25-21, and 25-19) . That result consolidated it at the top of the standings in the Korean circuit with 17 wins and only 4 losses. Meanwhile, the team of the "Russian" is located in the fourth place with 9 and 11, in a tournament that features the participation of seven clubs. The previous record was also held by Leyva with 51 points, who also has the highest individual figures for three and five set games with 42 and 59 respectively. Meanwhile, Maikel Sánchez on November 26 set the universal record for a single set with 31 points which ended56-54 ! favorable to his team against Rush & Cash. Leonardo Leyva is from Jesús María neighborhood in Old Havana . There he took his first steps on the volleyball with Professor Piedra. He was a cadet in the 2007 World...

A tweet by Fox Sports journalist Ken Rosenthal revealed the signing of a contract, valid for one year, between Cuban baseball player Yuniesky Betancourt and the Orix Buffaloes, which belongs to the Pacific League in Japanese professional baseball. The news was confirmed hours later on the official website of the Japanese organization. Yuniesky, 31, who was born in the province of Villa Clara, will coincide on the Japanese circuit with four other players from the island: Michel Abreu, who already had a spectacular performance last season, marked by his leadership in homers (31) in the Pacific circuit wearing the jersey of Nippon-Ham Fighters. Pinar del Rio´s Juan Miguel Miranda , who in November signed a contract with this organization for a year and a slightly higher cost of half a million dollars, will debut with that same franchise. Some days later Barbaro Canizares formalized his signing with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and in December it was the turn of Leslie Anderson who will play for the Yomiuri Giants in the Central League. In Cuban National Series, " Rikimbili" Betancourt stood out for his defense around second base. He amassed a defensive average of 973 with 1019 assists and participated in...

The pitching of Yuniesky Maya and the offense work of Félix Pérez were key in the fourth victory of the Tigres del Licey over the Leones del Escogido, in the final series of the Dominican Winter League. This result placed the team coached by Jose Offerman just one game away from clinching the ticket to the upcoming Caribbean Series, to be held at the Nueva Esparta stadium in Margarita Islands, Venezuela, from Saturday February 1. Now the play off, played to the best of nine games, favors the Licey 4-3. That playoff series began with three consecutive wins by Licey , which made many predict the biggest surprise of the Caribbean circuit this season. The Leones del Escogido did not give credit to those adverse predictions, and rallied to win the following games to tie the series three wins a piece. The scene was then ready for the seventh game held yesterday, in which the performance of Maya and Felix was instrumental in the success of the Tigres. Felix Perez was without doubt the most valuable player of the game. In the fourth inning he hit a double against starter Edward Valdes. He then scored the first run of the...

The official song of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil was unveiled Thursday by the FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke , in a press conference held at the legendary Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The song " We are One " written by Cuban rapper Pitbull, in collaboration with Jennifer Lopez and Brazilian pop singer Claudia Leite, will be accompanying the goals and dribbling that for about a month , may be enjoyed twelve cities of the South American nation . “Only music and football can attract 80,000 people to a stadium," Valcke said during the presentation, attended by Pitbull and Leite . The song was written by three singers and contains words in Spanish , English and Portuguese. "Music is to break down barriers and show that, through sports and music, we are united," Pitbull said, who hours before the release of the news by the authorities of FIFA, had written in his Twitter account: " A song unites the world, ' We are One' ... Obrigado “. For its part, Leite, visibly happy said: "This music is a goal ... my music is my passion, football is the passion of this country and the people will make...

It is circulating a rumor on a comment made by Roberto Pacheco, Radio Rebelde sports broadcaster, where he expresses the need of Villa Clara team manager, Ramon Moré, to attend the upcoming Caribbean Series Baseball accompanied by Víctor Mesa. Pacheco's proposal is that the current coach of Cuban national squad to be a kind of " advisor" in key moments, considering that Moré´s inexperience in international tournaments could be a handicap during the event in Margarita Island, because that of coaching outside "is another thing ". Cuban baseball fans sometimes only need a dubious out to generate epic discussions. It was hoped then that this "suggestion" to unleash an avalanche of comments. The vast majority of those published in blogs and sports pages in facebook agree to express a flat refusal to that possibility. The reasons given are dissimilar; from those that show an obvious dislike for Victor to those that are based on more logical analysis on this sport . Ramón Moré was the person who led Villa Clara to the achievement of a title they were awaiting for 18 years. That result allowed him to represent Cuba in its return to the Caribbean Series. Therefore, Moré must have...

The Cuban Grand Master Leinier Dominguez won with the white pieces against his Philippine counterpart Wesley So , in the eighth round of the 76th Tata Steel Masters tournament , underway in the Dutch city of Wijk aan Zee. This success allowed him to settle for the first time in his career among the top ten players in the world , as reflected in the live update of the ranking, with an ELO of 2760.9 . The favorable outcome occurred in 21 moves of a Petroff Defense. It was Dominguez’s third victory in the tourney and now escorts with five points, tied with Dutch Anish Giri, the leaders of the standings : the Armenian Levon Aronian (6 points ) and Russian Sergey Karjakin ( 5). This Wednesday will be the day off and tomorrow Leinier will play with black pieces Israeli Boris Gelfand. In the closing two rounds he will hold two complicated matches, precisely against the two leaders. For Dominguez this ELO of 2760.9 was a new personal record, over his previous 2757 he reached with his spectacular victory in the Grand Prix of Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2013. Top-ten in the live world ranking (January 21, 2014) Magnus Carlsen...

This Saturday the team made up by Arlenis Sierra, Marlies Mejias, Yudelmis Domínguez and Yoanka González finished on a high note its participation in the San Luis Tour, Argentina. The first time a woman was seen riding a bicycle through the streets of Havana the commotion was colossal. The unusual event took place on November 12, 1894. Almost a year before Figaro magazine had published a review on the pioneers of this practice on the island: a group of young women from M atanzas province including Julia Bosch, who was the first Cuban photographed while riding her bike. Apparently that news did not cause such a stir on HAvana's elites, but that day those who witnessed live Antonia Martínez cycling through the city felt concerned indeed. Those were times in which modernity winds coming from United States were felt in all aspects of Cuban society. Sports practices were no exception and were easily imposed over the Spanish ones, considered unmistakable symbols of backwardness and barbarism. Baseball had spread throughout the island and so were sailing, tennis, skating, equestrian polo, swimming and other disciplines. Even though they were premiered as exclusive spaces of male hegemony, it was not long before a...

When she was just seven, Arasay Duran scored her first goal on a handball court in Santiago de Cuba, her hometown. The attraction for the sport quickly arouse on her. Then the medals in National School Games and youth tournaments began coming. Later, she coincided in the national team with a generation of hungry-for-victory girls. From her position of left backcourt, goals continued being inseparable part of her daily work. It was a generation that put all their effort in moving up to the universal handball elite. The memory of the tough training sessions, along with unselfish coaches and federative men , proves it. International matches were scarce, contrary to the difficulties of everyday life. Arasay decided to try her luck as a professional player in regional Mecca of the sport: Europe. The start was not encouraging. She was hired by a Spanish club where incredibly she never had the chance to play. Then another contract in Iberian lands came that was terminated from financial difficulties presented by the franchise. She moved to Italy and with this transfer destination began to smile at her... The conquest of an individual prize in the Italian Serie A1 became occasion to speak with...

The Domadores of Cuba swept the Mexican franchise Guerrero in his second appearance at home in the Coliseum of the Sports City. This result ensured them a place for the next phase of the IV World Series of Boxing (WSB), while there are still missing several qualifying matches. Now the fighters of the island accumulate balance of 26 wins and just four losses, and with 18 points remain as leaders of the group B. Again the trumpets from the ballparks were felt in the stands of the Coliseum and the occasional whistle at the passing of models that announced the early rounds. The opening of the evening was by the singer Laritza Bacallao, that at the rhythm of “carnival and drums " left the scene ready for the sixth consecutive win by the team led by Rolando Acebal . In the bout that started the match Gerardo " El Gallo " Cervantes ( 52kg) outscored Huitzil Orlando 3-0 by unanimous decision ( 50-45 , 49-46 , 50-45 ) . Cervantes took advantage of the constant exchanges that marked the five rounds, hit more and more effectively. His work with the left hand, particularly hooks to Huitzil abdomen was exquisite. "In...

The first memory I have of the "dark-skinned Caribbean women" dates back to the 1991 Pan American Games; the competition held in Havana at moments that already warned the proximity of complex times for our little island. I had the opportunity to enjoy live the triumph of Cuban women’s volleyball team, its fifth consecutive success in events of this type. I was only six years old and I imagine that , at that time, I did not notice his presence on the court. By that date Eugenio George already amassed more than two decades of a fascinating history: the first regional medals, the first titles, the great victory in 1978 World Cup, in USSR. The project of Cuban volleyball school was a latent reality. Then, the three consecutive Olympic titles came: Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. Each one has its own dose of drama and emotions, from the epic comebacks up to the great narratives by René Navarro: "Marlenis puts the ball up, and Mireya puts it down " ... "from Cuba and for the world" ... " two-hands block by the chocolate wall.” There was more, the global titles in 1994 and 1998, the bronze medal reached...

The Cuba Domadores were ratified as leaders of Group B of the Fourth World Series of Boxing (WSB ) , by winning 3-2 this Saturday over the Azeri Baku Fires club . The victory gained greater relevance because it was as visitors. Now the Caribbean squad has balance of 21 wins and 4 defeats and ends the first round of the WSB unbeaten in five presentations. Approximately two thousand spectators went to the Guba Olympic Complex in the Asian nation. In the opening fight Yosbany Veitía (49kg) defeated easily Khamza Mametov. After an initial assault with few exchanges, Veitia increased his pace in the next two rounds and closed the last two with clear advantage over the local fighter. The decision of the judges was a unanimous 3-0 (49-45, 49-46, 49-46). This success was the third consecutive for Veitia and confirmed him on the top of the ranking of the division. Then Robeisy Ramírez ( 56kg) made a triumphant return after the suspension that kept him out of the match against the Russian franchise last December 6 . Magomed Gurbanov was the victim of the verdict 3-0 ( 49-46 , 49-46 , 49-45 ) . The London 2012 Olympic champion...

"The first thing I would do is greeting them ... but not play against them.” the Cuban pitcher Yunesky Maya said in an interview that took place a few days ago in a Dominican TV channel. With these words the Pinar del Rio hurler expressed his opinion about the real possibility that exists of facing the Villa Clara team that will represent Cuba in the upcoming Caribbean Series. This situation would occur if Yunesky finishes as champion in the Dominican Winter League with his team, or was chosen as reinforcement for another club that wins the title and earns the right to intervene in the regional tournament. This statement by Maya, key figure in the pitching staff of the Tigres del Licey, sparked controversy among fans of Cuban and Caribbean baseball in general. Opinions occur at great speed. Some applaud the decision; others consider it a tacit ignorance of what it means to be a rented athlete. Apparently the spiritual dimension of what "being Cuban" means to Yunesky completely excludes a possible duel in diamonds against a team from the island. It doesn’t matter for him if the uniform says Villa Clara or Guáimaro, or if the game is part...

Their lives reveal several details in common. Both were world class fighters in free style wrestling. Both were Olympic medalists and monarchs of the world. At one point they decided to seek new paths and migrated. Then they were inserted into the world of mixed martial arts (MMA). For the 2014 they share the dream to continue moving towards the elite of their respective circuits. Yoel Romero (6-1-0) and Alexis Vila (13-4-0) will have their first fights of the year in a few days. The Pinar del Rio fighter will take the Octagon on January 15 to face Derek Brunson (11-2-0) at the Arena at Gwinnett Center in Georgia. The bout will be part of the UFC Night 35. Three days later, on the 18, Vila will rival Sidemar Honorio (8-4-0) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida, one of the matches scheduled in the World Series on Fighthing 8. Yoel Romero (85kg) was one of the best fighters in the world in freestyle wrestling for almost a decade. In 2000 he reached the silver medal at the Olympics held in Sydney. He won five medals at World Championships: gold in Ankara 1999, silver in Budapest 2002...

The stellar Cuban boxer Julio Cesar La Cruz (81kg) has been hospitalized since early Saturday after suffering an assault with a firearm while leaving the restaurant "El Faisan", belonging to Flora and Fauna Company in his home province of Camagüey. Apparently the motive for the action is associated with an assault attempt. According to the medical report, broadcasted live on Cuban television on the night news, Julio Cesar is stable, although is reported of care. The injury received is located at the top of his left hip and not touched any vital organ. In the interview the doctor also said that they are supplying him the drugs needed to prevent any infectious process in the injured area. The two-time universal monarch and leader of the national team that commands group B of the 4th World Series of Boxing is conscious and without limitations for locomotion. Speaking to journalist Luisa Fernanda, he affirmed feeling good and looking forward the recovery process to delay the shortest possible time, to return training as soon as possible. On this subject the physician noted that during the rehabilitation phase, the main indication will be rest, and it is expected not to be any obstacle for...

An article published in the Brazilian website Hoje em Día and some comments on the Las Espectaculares Morenas del Caribe Facebook group have aroused the interest of the followers of the Cuban volleyball. Motivation logical if you consider that in both cases, talks about the possible return of a group of volleyball players to the island's national team. Neither are official data. The remarkable thing is that they reflect a few essential details for that longed for return to become concrete. The first is that the Cuban Volleyball Federation is talking to several of the "Morenas" currently playing in professional leagues around the world. The second: the Brazilian article reviews the statements of two other volleyball players expressing their desire to represent the island again. On his Facebook page setter Daymi Ramirez said directors of the Cuban federation called her and proposed her to return to the national as captain, in addition to talking about the possibility of the return of two other former colleagues. So far everything looks great but ... Daymi further noted that the main problem was that the conditions for return were not clear yet. A source near Daymi revealed the root causes of this uncertainty:...