Baseball
The Cuban baseball team fell by a score of 5-1 to Canada in their opening game in Group A at the 2015 WBSC Premier 12 Baseball Tournament, underway in Chinese Taipei and Japan from November 8th to the 21st.
Canadians opened the initial episode with 3 runs against Cuban starter Yosvany Torres, who admitted 3 hits including home run by 3rd baseman Pete Orr, before giving the mound to lefty reliever Liván Moinelo.
The Cuban team's only run came in the bottom of the 1st inning, when Alfredo Despaigne hit fly sacrifice to center field with loaded bases against Chris Leroux, who managed to handcuff the threat to dominate the shortstop Rudy Reyes.
Moinelo worked excellent for 5 chapters but in the 7th and with more than 100 throws, had problems associated with fatigue and allowed the other 2 Canadian scores.
The success corresponded to Canadian starter Chris Leroux, who conceded only 3 hits and struck out 8 in 5 and 2 thirds of work, supported by relay of Andrew Albers and Scott Richmond, while the failure went to Yosvany Torres.
The next presentation of Cuba in the Premier 12 will be against the Netherlands, which debuted victorious on Monday by beating the host Chinese Taipei with 7-4 slate at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium, Taipei China.
And another of baseball, this time local, says that the Avilanians' Los Tigres, Granma and Industriales teams command the 55th National Baseball Series that begins on Wednesday, where the most striking is the clash between Industriales, batting leaders with 326, and Villa Clara, pitching leaders with 2.06, plus the surprise in 4th place of Sancti Spiritus' Los Gallos.
Fencing
Cuban Luis Enrique Patterson won the title in the Junior World Cup of Individual Epee held in El Salvador.
Following the results, the Cuban fencer expressed his satisfaction confessing he felt stressed at the beginning of a competition that involved 32 athletes from 17 countries from America, Europe, and Asia.
“I enjoyed it a lot. I did not perform my best but I was able to put into practice everything I learned in Cuba. I hope this triumph can give me more opportunities to participate in other events”.
The other medalists were Peruvian Eduardo Garcia, and local Cristian Edenilson Mejia, who is 25th in the world ranking.
Rigoberto Morejón, president of the Cuban Fencing Federation and observer at the International Fencing Federation, commented that Patterson is one of the best Cuban athletes in this category and confirmed this tournament had a high competitive level.
Russian Sports Body Reacts Against Doping and Deplores Politicization
The Russian Athletics Federation (RAF) confirmed today that it will present to the world governing body of soccer a report that includes its program of action against doping.
The Russian body adds that the document will present the reaction of the Russian sports organization to the findings presented on Monday by a committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), according to a statement released to the press.
The www.rusathletics.com portal reports that Russia will present as soon as possible to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) a document containing the anti-doping program of the RAF, concrete steps for its implementation (including those already carried out) and its reaction to the conclusions of the WADA.
The statement reiterates Moscow's willingness to a strategic cooperation with the IAAF, in particular to solve the problems in the world athletics and in Russia.
A report presented yesterday with great media hype by an investigating commission of the WADA requests that the IAAF suspended Russia temporarily from all its tournaments, and that the accreditation of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory be retired.
It also requests the discharge of the director of the above-mentioned lab, Grigori Rodchenko, as an accomplice of various illegal actions.
Vitaly Mutko, Minister of Sports of Russia, said that the WADA president, Richard Pound, abused his authority by recommending the IAAF do not allow the participation of Russian athletes at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. “...there is a report of the WADA commission, and there is an opinion of Pound, who abused slightly the authority of the commission itself,” said Mutko to the federal Rossiya 24 TV channel.
The Russian minister considered that Pound intervened as a politician when evaluating the Russian system of anti-doping saying that “...If you read the report you will realize that the commission simply refers to some unverified sources and unconfirmed facts... It is no more than speculation, stressed the Russian minister.
The RAF, meanwhile, deplored that the WADA eluded the established protocols to address doping issues.
For his part, the vice chairman of the Sports Committee of the State Duma (Lower House of Russian Parliament) Sergei Poddubnyi, considered that the recommendations of the WADA are but politically motivated... “They are purely political statements that have nothing to do with sports,” stressed the legislator, as Russian athletes always show their skills in stadiums and gyms, and will never mix politics with sports,” according to the deputy minister of the Russian committee.
