Chess
Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez contributed on Thursday with 1 of the 5 wins of St. Petersburg Russian chess team, to comfortably win the German SV Mülheim Nord team during the 5th day of the European Chess Club Cup currently based in the Spanish city of Bilbao.
Dominguez took advantage against an opponent of lower level to recover from his previous setback, got 7 units and installed in 8th place in a classification list still leads for the unbeaten SOCAR team of Azerbaijan.
Leinier (Elo 2755) returned to defend again the 2nd board and topped with black pieces GM Daniel Hausrath (2537) in 41 moves of an English Opening after take quick advantage from the very beginning.
This Friday at the penultimate round, will rival the teams of Malakhite-SOCAR, Novy Bor-Huginn, and Saint Petersburg vs. Israeli Beer Sheva, which also shows 7 points and is ranked 12th.
Cricket
Cuba will host an International Cricket Tournament to strengthen relations with the Caribbean region, the ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago, Jennifer Jones Kernahan, highlighted in Havana.
The Ambassadors Cricket Tournament will be held on September 27th and 28th by the initiative of Jones Kernahan. This event is aimed to promote the game among the embassies of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and strengthen relations with Cuba in the area of sports tourism, as well as increasing regional cooperation in physical education and sports, which also operate as mechanisms of integration among peoples.
During the presentation of the Tournament, the ambassador of Great Britain, Tim Cole, highlighted his experience with players of the Guantanamo province.
The British diplomat praised the level of athletes and their history in this sport that dates back to the decade of the 50's of the last century.
According to Cole, in those years they played the Julians Cants Cup, a beautiful trophy in silver shown at the press conference as proof of the history of this sport in the Caribbean nation.
It was also informed that teams from South Africa, Guyana and a group formed by players from Pakistan and Sri Lanka will take part in the tournament.
On the Cuban part, there will be a team of the Manuel Fajardo University of Physical Culture, one from the University of Computer Sciences and another one from Guantanamo.
Cricket, called by historians as the father of baseball, is practiced in several Cuban cities by children and youths of both sexes and, the same as in other sports disciplines, teaches, values and convictions.
Soccer
Cuban U-20 soccer squad, coached by former goalkeeper William Bennett, will face off today Aruba in the bronze medal match of the Caribbean final stage, underway in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
Cubans were part of Group A in the preliminary phase and achieved 1 win against Curacao (1-0), a loss to Suriname (0-1), and a draw (1-1) versus the Trinitarians, to finish 2nd behind the hosts.
Bennett's pupils will fight for the bronze medal today against Aruba, which finished 2nd of Group B, headed by Haiti; however, Cuba, Aruba, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago, already got their tickets to the final of the North, Central American and Caribbean Confederation tournament, to be held in Jamaica, in January 2015.
It is also worth recalling that such contest on Jamaican soil will grant 4 seats for the U-20 FIFA World Cup, which will take place from May 30th to June 20th, 2015, in New Zealand.
