Judo

The female and male judo selections of Cuba depart today to Ecuador to participate from April 26th to 28th at the Pan-American Championship of Guayaquil, located at the Simón Bolívar Convention Center in order to earn points for the 2015 Pan-American Games in Toronto, Canada.

The main trump cards of coaches Ronaldo Veitía and Justo Noda are Idalis Ortiz, (+78 kilos), Yanet Bermoy (52) and Oscar Brayson (+100). Rounding out the list Dayaris Mestre (44), Celia María Laborde (48), Yanet Bermoy (52), Aliuska Ojeda (57), Olga Masferrer (70), Maricet Espinosa (63) and Yalennis Castillo (78).

For his part, Professor Justo Noda travels with Yandri Torres (55), Janiel Peña (60), Gilberto Solar (66), Magdiel Estrada (73), Iván Silva (81), Andy Granda (90) and José Armenteros (100).

Both teams are already qualified for the Central American and Caribbean Games to be held in November in Veracruz, Mexico.

Badminton

The Cuban badmintonist Osleni Guerrero maintains a good position in global ranking, standing at the 54th place while being the leader of the American continent in that sport, said today the National Information Agency, AIN, in Havana.

Baseball

Cuban baseball player Antonio Muñoz, an ex-captain of the national team, was named today Illustrious Son of Cienguegos City (in central-southern Cuba), on occasion of the 159th anniversary of its foundation. "I feel myself as much a son of Algaba (a town in central Cuba where he was born on Jan. 17th, 1949) as I am of Cienfuegos," Munoz, also known as the Giant of Escambray, told Prensa Latina news agency.

The resolution issued by the local government in this regard highlights the modesty of a sports figure who has managed to win the affection of fans in and out of stadiums.

Muñoz, first baseman of Cuban teams from 1974-1986, came to live in Cienfuegos in mid 1979 after winning his last title in the Cuban League Championships with the team of Sancti-Spiritus, his home-province.

He retired as an active member of the Cienfuegos team in January, 1999, after taking part in National Series for 24 years and leading in many offensive aspects, including 370 home runs.

He is remembered by his legendary home run leading to Cuba's win over Japan in the Amateur World Baseball Championship of 1980, held in Japan.
After his retirement he managed for 2 seasons the Cienfuegos team in Cuban championships and he coached the Italian team that took part in the Athens Olympics, among other competitions.

FIFA Confirms Sao Paulo Stadium for World Opening

The Arena Corinthians, in Sao Paulo, will be ready for the opening match of the World Cup Brazil-2014, said today the Secretary General of the International Football Federation (FIFA), the French Jerome Valcke.

Sao Paulo will be ready for the Cup, though not in the schedule originally planned, said Valcke, after visiting the works of Sao Paulo stadium and meet with officials and representatives of the club Corinthians, owner of the arena, and companies responsible for construction.

This stadium will open the World Cup competition with the match Brazil vs. Croatia on June 12th.

According to Valcke, there will be a test match on the Arena Corinthians on May 17th and 18th, which will allow assessing the stadium.

"The event will give us the opportunity to see what works and what does not, and then we will have a period of three weeks to correct any problems," Valcke added, who reiterated to responsible for building the stadium its a mandatory warning that demands not to miss a single minute.

"We have much work ahead. It's a race against time, but I can assure that the opening match will take place here in the Corinthians stadium, as well as other parties," said Valcke.

According to the responsible company, the installation of temporary stands, which will add 20 thousand places to the stadium and ensure the minimum capacity of 68,000 seats required by FIFA by end on May 10th, just over a month before the start of World.

The Sao Paulo stadium will host 6 matches of the World Cup, including 4 by the group stage: Brazil-Croatia, on June 12th, Uruguay-England, 19th, Holland-Chile, 23rd, and South Korea-Belgium, on June 26th.

Valcke is visiting the country inspection and in the next few hours will move to Curitiba, to check the progress of other stage works, the Arena da Baixada to finish in the capital to inspect the Midwestern state of Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, where Valcke will visit a public school where the FIFA Football for Health project is developed.