Baseball
Holguin may classify for the 2nd phase of the 55th National Baseball Series after sweeping Sancti Spiritus in the 11th subset of the Season.

When the preliminary stage rests this Monday and with 12 games left, Holguín's Los Cachorros are located in the 6th position tied with the stellar Isla de la Juventud.

Holguín visiting the stadium of Sancti Spiritus' los Gallos and extended to 5 consecutive hits after winning on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the last one with a score of 14 to 10 with 31 hits.

Another set that was placed in the Sorting Area was Isla de la Juventud that also swept their opponents this weekend and is sitting at 6th place, tied with Holguin.

With 1 hit of rookie Ariel Hechevarría in the 8th to drive in the winning score, the current runners-up resolved 2x1 in its favor the most recent game against Cienfuegos, a sort of pitching duel between lefties Wilber Pérez, who won his 5th win in 6 decisions, and Norberto Gonzalez (3-2).

Meanwhile, the reigning champion and current leader, Ciego de Avila, also swept Mayabeque to consummate its 5th win to continue its impressive step towards the next domestic crown by winning 14x7 and 2x0, in that order.

In other games, Matanzas won Villa Clara 7x4 to escape from the sweep; Industriales exceeded Granma 5x4 and won 2-1 their subseries; and Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba won 6x3 and 4x2 vs. Artemisa and Camaguey, respectively.

Currently, the Table shows Ciego de Avila 24-9, Pinar del Rio 20-10, whose match against Las Tunas was sealed because of the rain; Industriales (21-12), Las Tunas (19-11), Granma (20-12), Havana (18-15), Isla de la Juventud (18-15) and Matanzas (17-15).

Laggards are Cienfuegos (15-15), Guantanamo (16-16), Sancti Spiritus (16-17), Villa Clara (16-17), Santiago de Cuba (13-20), Artemisa (9-21), Camagüey (6-24), and closes Mayabeque (5-27).

The Cuban Classic resumes on Tuesday with Mayabeque-Industriales, Matanzas-Pinar del Rio, Cienfuegos-Las Tunas, Ciego de Avila-Artemisa, Camaguey-Granma, Holguín-Isla de la Juventud, Santiago de Cuba-Sancti Spiritus, and Guantanamo-Villa Clara duels, always at the home stadiums of the first.

US Blockade, Enemy of Cuban Sports

The blockade imposed on Cuba by the US Government, with more than a half a century, has also seriously affected Cuban sports, something to which all the people in the Island have full and free access.

Cuban athletes have made history in the international arena after the triumph of the Revolution in 1959 and is recognized worldwide that the mass sports practice and the support to this activity by the Cuban Government are, in a great extent, the cause of it.

However, that area is not free from the blockade by any means, and the daily efforts to stimulate foreign brain drain, even with a political objective, is added to the damage and difficulties caused by the regulations of the US siege.

Irrefutable evidence can be found in the report presented by Cuba to the UN General Assembly on the damage caused by the measures applied by Washington to enforce the rules of the economic, commercial and financial blockade, still in force, which extends to areas as sports.

Sports institutions are prevented from purchasing, in the US market, implements, equipment and clothing for athletes of different disciplines, including mattresses for playing jump poles, hoops with folding spring for artistic gymnastics, electronic measuring equipment for athletics, and many others.

Likewise, the Cuban baseball team, champion of the Caribbean Series, could not collect their prizes by restrictions imposed by the blockade, as the Cuban athletes who won awards at the World Championship Relay Race and the Indoor World Cup were not able to do.

That action was possible because the bank used by the International Federation of those sports belongs to the States and has frozen the funds for a total of $190,000 USD.

Moreover, the Institute of Sports Medicine in Cuba was unable to get the necessary technological support to develop their activity, including reagents and substances intended for anti-doping labs, spare parts for the repair, spectrometry equipment, and many others, because the cruel blockade prevents it.

This action by US agencies engaged in implementing the blockade is obviously a violation of international trade and human rights of the Cuban sports sector.

Cuba Organizes International Congress of Sports Medicine

The 7th International Congress of Sports Medicine and Applied Sciences will be held in the Cuban province of Matanzas from today 12th to the 15th of October, with the participation of more than one hundred delegates from 22 countries.

At a press conference in Havana, Jorge Pavel Pino, president of the Cuban Institute of Sports Medicine, whose Congress activities include trade shows, 218 academic presentations and the 1st International Symposium Vibrotherapy and High Power Laser, issues related to biomechanical and psychological training control, rehabilitation of sports injuries, nutrition and regenerative medicine, among others.

Finally, the manager said he will present the De-training Cuban Sports Program 1st digital version and an isotopic drink elaborated by the experts of foreign company CORACAN, which improves the athlete's health.

Chess
Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez reached on Sunday 4 points out of 5 to get the 14th position in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship, which takes place in the German city of Berlin led by the Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen with 8 units.

Cuba, ranked 18th in the world ranking of this specialty, went undefeated on Sunday during the 2nd day with 3 wins and 2 tables, to arrive at 7 points.

Leinier beat GMs American Maxim Dlugy, Armenian Vladimir Akopian and Russian Pavel Ponkratov, while split the point before the German Georg Meier and Azeri Eltaj Safarli.

After 2 days, Leinier accumulates 5 wins, 4 tables and only 1 defeat while his teammate, Lázaro Bruzón, dropped to 58th place with 5.5 points, after scoring only 2 units in the 5 rounds contested on Sunday.

The last day of this world top will be held this Monday with the celebration of the final 5 rounds, as in the 6th round, in which Cuban GM Leinier will rival GM Shariyar Mamedyarov, from Azerbaijan, while Bruzón goes against Russian GM Evgeny Romanov.

Boxing

Cuban boxers dominated on the opening night of semifinals at the World Championships in Qatar on Sunday.

Three Cubans progressed to the finals --light-flyweight Joahnys Argilagos, middleweight Arlen Lopez, and heavyweight Erislandy Savon but their light-welterweight compatriot Yasniel Toledo Lopez lost.

Lopez and Savon were particularly impressive. The powerful Lopez brushed aside Egypt's Hosam Abdin in front of a large number of supporters at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena in the capital, Doha, and on a unanimous points decision and now faces Uzbekistan's Bektemir Melikuziev, who narrowly defeated Ireland's Michael O'Reilly on a split points decision, in the final.