Lima, August 5 (RHC) – This Saturday brought to Cuban sports followers both amazing performances and performances that will be hard to remember without getting extremely upset.
In Baseball, the Cuban team, which so far had its worst Pan-Am Games in history, suffered yet another loss, this time against Dominican Republic in the match for the 5th place. Cubans and Dominicans were tied to 1 run during the first nine innings. In the top of the 10th the Cubans took an 8-run lead and it seemed like the game was in the pocket, but the Dominicans stroke back and scored 9 runs with two outs in the Bottom part of the 10th. This unprecedented comeback left Cuba in the 6th place of the competition and also left a lot to discuss about the island´s National Pastime.
In Cycling Lisandra Guerra, after winning a Silver medal in Keirin, could not make it past the Sprint Quarter Finals, when she was defeated by Mexican Jessica Salazar. Arlenis Sierra closed the day with a Bronze medal in the Omnium, probably the most demanding discipline of them all, finishing 3rd after American Jennifer Valente and Mexican Lisbeth Salazar.
In Racquetball, Saturday was a day to forget, since Cuba could not win any of the matches. In Men´s Singles Maykel Moyet was defeated by Dominican Ramon de Leon and also Dominican Luis Perez did the same to Enier Chacon. In Women´s Singles, both Maria Regla Viera and Loraine Felipe were victims of Colombian Cristina Amaya and Ecuadorian Maria Jose Muñoz. No wins in the Doubles either, as the Cuban male duo was inferior to Costa Rica and the women lost to Argentina.
Table Tennis gave Cuba this Sunday a win in the Mixed Doubles Round of 16, as Jorge Campos and Daniela Fonseca defeated the Argentinian duo of Horacio Cifuentes and Camila Arguelles. In the Men´s Doubles, Andy Pereira and Jorge Campos were totally superior to Guatemala´s duo Heber Moscoso and Hector Gatica, while the Women’s duo of Idalys Lovet and Daniela Fonseca was eliminated by Chileans Daniela Ortega and Paulina Vega.
The Men´s Volleyball was clearly this weekend´s surprise as they defeated all-time favorites Brazil in Semi-Finals in only three sets. Expectations were high as the young Cuban team advanced to the Finals, but their inexperience and youth was a factor the Argentinian team knew how to use in their advantage and ended up winning the title in three sets. Cuba´s team, with this Silver medal, gives Cuban Volleyball fans hopes on a Men´s Volleyball rebirth in the island. After the victory in the Semi-Finals, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel sent a congratulatory message to the Cuban team by way of Twitter. `”Congratulations for this victory over Brazil,” Cuban President tweeted using the hashtags #WeAreCuba and #WeAreContinuity.
