Cuban Baseball Legend

The ashes of Cuban pitcher Conrado Marrero will be laid at the “Cuban Professional Baseball Players Pantheon” at the Colon Cemetery, according to Juventud Rebelde newspaper.

Rogelio Marrero, grandson of the former pitcher, said the will of the relatives was to cremate Conrado Marrero's corpse and his remains will lay at the main cemetery of the country to answer to a request by the mythical former baseball player.

Lucid until the time of his death, Marrero, born at the farm Laberinto, in the central Cuban city of Sagua la Grande, died on Wednesday in Havana, just 2 days before turning 103 years old.

The Cuban former baseball star held the record of being the oldest former Major League player alive, a distinction that goes now to Mike Sandlock, aged 98.
El Guajiro de Laberinto (the Peasant from Laberinto), as he was known, entered the Major Leagues in 1950, when he signed to the Nationals from Washington, at the age of 39.
 
Pole-Vaulter

Cuban pole-vaulter Yarisley Silva wins again the 6th annual Drake Relays "Pole Vault in the Mall" in West Des Moines, one of the main track and field event in the United States.

The women's 2012 Olympic silver medalist won with a jump over the 4.68m in her first attempt, establishing a world-leading mark, as both she and U.S. Kylie Hutson, failed in their 3 attempts on 4.78.

Like this, the Caribbean athlete repeated the triumph achieved last year, when she reached 4.82m, which were national and the event's record at that time.
"This was my second time in this competition in the United States and I feel very happy," said Silva. "Today it was great to compete against some of the best in the world. I respect them all. I'm very happy to be here. I like the environment and the people and the competition", said Silva after becoming a winner at the Jordan Creek Town Center.

Now the competition will be moved to the track of Drake University, where Silva will try to complete the golden re-edition in the outdoor test, dominated with a respectable 4.85 meters on the previous version. Host and Olympic London winner, Jennifer Suhr will be the opponent to defeat.
 
Boxing

Cuba's Los Domadores will take a narrow 3-2 lead back to Havana after their first-leg World Series of Boxing (WSB) semi-final clash against the Russian Boxing Team at the Moscow Arena tonight, the specialized website www.insidethegames.com reports.

The night opened with the light flyweight contest between Belik Galanov and the number one ranked Cuban Yosbany Veitia Soto, who was seeking to make it 7 wins from 7 outings in this season's WSB, and showed why he is considered one of the top fighters in the whole competition, as he outclassed Galanov with a slick showing to take the win comfortably.
The home side hit back straight away however, in the
form Vladimir Nikitin, who came out on top in his bantamweight bout with Norlan Yera, who was making his WSB debut.

The pendulum swung back in the visitors' favor after fight number three, as number one ranked light welterweight Yasnier Toledo looked in superb nick against Maxim Dadashev.

The Russian, a former World Championship silver medalist at youth level, kept going right to the end but had no answer to the class and skill of Toledo as he took the win.

Despite a late flurry in the final round of the contest, Cuba's second debutant on the night, Arlen Lopez, lost out to Artem Chebotarev in their middleweight bout.

Finally, Cuban heavyweight Erislandy Savón looked a class apart, picking off his opponent Eugeniy Tischenko with some crisp punches and eventually taking the win by unanimous decision to take his record in for the season to 6-0.

Despite that loss, the Russians will at least travel to the Ciudad Deportiva in Havana on May 2nd with hopes very much of alive of causing an upset in the second-leg and booking their place in the final.

The other semi-final sees defending champions Astana Arlans Kazakhstan host the Azerbaijan Baku Fires on Saturday, April 26th before the return leg at the Guba Olympic Complex on May 3rd.
 
Blind Athlete to Kayak From Cuba to US

Blind U.S. athlete Peter Crowley will attempt today Friday to cross the Florida Straits in a kayak from Cuba to the United States, Chinese Xinhua news agency released in Havana.

Crowley will depart at noon from the Marina Hemingway located west of the capital Havana, accompanied by his son and a support vessel, Hemingway International Yacht Club commodore José Miguel Díaz Escrich said on Thursday.

Crowley has already crossed the English Channel in a solo kayak, becoming the first blind person to do so, in June 2003.
Crossing the 145-km straight between Cuba and the U.S. coast of Florida has traditionally presented a tempting challenge for many international athletes, especially those from the United States and Australia.

The first person to succeed in the challenge was Australian marathon swimmer Susan Maroney, who, protected by a shark cage, accomplished the feat in May 1997, at the age of 22 years old.

In June 2011, a lifeguard from Miami Beach, Florida, reportedly completed the journey in just over 29 hours, using a surfboard.
American Benjamin Friberg became the first person to ever stand-up paddle board between Cuba and Key West, Florida, in August 2013, after 28 hours of paddling.

A month later, his compatriot and endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, 64 years old, succeeded in swimming across after 4 previous failed attempts and without protection against sharks.