Ernest Hemingway International Marlin Fishing Tournament
Thanks to the capture of 5 Dorados and 4 Marlins, Cuba won the 64th Ernest Hemingway International Marlin Fishing Tournament, which was the 2nd most attended edition in the last decade.
After 4 intense days, Santy --name of the ship that represented the Island in its 1st official appearance as a team-- managed to be crowned among the 21 crews from 10 countries enrolled.
At the closing ceremony, Marlin S.A. Nautical and Marinas Corporate Group announced the final results of the competition, where 82 fishermen fought to catch the best specimen, in which the boats Odds and Ends and Tag and Release, both from USA, ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively.
In other results, Rebel Yell, from Spain, captured the largest tuna of the competition; while Canadian Macondo III got the biggest Marlin and Cuba's Santy achieved the record of the largest Dorado with 40.5 pounds.
Alexis Trujillo, Cuban Tourism first deputy minister, said the contest was a sample of the wealth of the Caribbean archipelago marine environment, and opened the doors for next edition to be held next year from May 25th to 30th.
The Ernest Hemingway International Marlin Fishing Tournament, supported in the 1950s by the famous American writer, 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature, is only preceded by the World Tuna Cup in Nova Scotia, and Tarpon Tournament in Mexico.
Because of its location, Cuba is highly attractive for sport fishing; the deep basins of the Caribbean Sea, and the Straits of Florida and Bahamas serve as ecological barriers, while the great ocean currents connect it with the routes of pelagic species.
Boxing
The 1st program of the Roberto Balado Boxing Cup is underway, organized at the Havana's Coliseum Sports City with the participation of 95 athletes from 12 nations.
Triumphed lightweight Pablo Vicente and featherweight Jorge Luis Cordero for non-submission of their rivals, and the fly Yordán Sollet, 2-1, over the Venezuelan Eduard Bermúdez, bronze at the recent Córdova Cardin Tournament in Havana and the Cuban feather Enrique Despaigne over the seasoned Argentinean Ignacio Perrin, not to mention the strong beat of the Venezuelan Yoni Blanco over Hungarian Mark Sorocs (3-0) in the same division.
Venezuela also won when Leonardo Padilla edged 2-1 to Ecuadorian Luis Porozo, while by Hungary and European bronze medalist, Miklos Vargas, gave knocked out in the 3rd act to Dasham Lalicha, from Sri Lanka.
Cuba depends on 26 experienced figures and gives training to new exponents. Today, 18 fights are taking place and light welterweight Liván Navarro, the medium Osnay Bencomo, and cruise Frank Sanchez, will debut.
Volleyball
The women's volleyball team of Cuba lost in 4 sets against Argentina in the quarter-finals of the XIII Pan-American Volleyball Cup held in Mexico City.
According to the website of the tournament, qualifying for the Grand Prix 2015, Argentina's widely outclassed the Cubans in attack and took advantage of the mistakes of their rivals.
The best scorer of the challenge was the South-American Leticia Boscacci with 18 points, supported by Josefina Fernández (17), Emilce Sosa (10) and Sol Piccolo (10), while for the Caribbean team stood out Daymara Lescay (16), Melissa Vargas (13) and Sulian Matienzo (11).
In other challenges, Puerto Rico beat 3-0 to Canada and Colombia to Mexico; thus, Argentina and Puerto Rico face today the Dominican Republic and the United States, in that order, in the semifinals, at the same venue.
Canada and Cuba will fight on Thursday for places 5th and 6th, while the losers and winners of the semifinals will seek the gold and bronze medals, respectively.
Baseball
The youth baseball teams of Canada and the U.S. Collegiate team, respectively, will visit Cuba next July to develop bilateral stops with their Caribbean counterparts, said Radio Havana Cuba.
Canadian youth arrive on July 3rd to Juan Gualberto Gomez International Airport in Varadero and one day after will have their first 2 games of 9 scheduled, with the Cuban team at the Victoria de Giron Stadium, in the City of Matanzas.
These tops serve as a preparation for visitors in view of the Pan-Baseball Championship from September 5th-14th in the Mexican city of Lagos de Moreno, a qualifying event for the World Championship 2015 which Cuba has not yet confirmed its presence.
For its part, the U.S. draft will arrive on July 22nd, from the Netherlands, to develop the bilateral 3rd stop against the Cubans, this time at the Victoria de Giron Stadium, in Matanzas city, from 23rd and 24th, and at the Captain San Luis Stadium, in Pinar del Rio city, from July 25th, 26th and 27th.
These Cuba-United States meetings were resumed in 2012 at the Havana's Latinoamericano Stadium and had their 2nd encounter last year in several U.S. states. Cuba dominated the 1st year in 3 of the 5 games, but the Americans swept the Cubans in all 5 clashes in 2013.
