Baseball

The defeat of the current monarchs of Pinar del Río, by a narrow margin of 3-2 facing Isla de la Juventud, marked the latest day of the 54th National Baseball Series.

Hector Galindo allowed only 2 hits in relief of 4 episodes to claim victory, supported by rescue of Jesus Reynaldo Amador, while failure went to Erlis Casanova, who allowed 6 hits and 3 runs in 3 innings.

Shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez drove in 2 and veteran 3rd baseman Michel Enriquez hit 4-2 with 1 driven highlighted by local offensive, while outfielder Reinier León hit a double and drove in 2 for the defeated.

Meanwhile, the runners-up of Matanzas deployed a brutal 17 hits offensive to knock the battered cast of Mayabeque by 16-6 with success for Adrián Sosa Rajiv and defeat for rookie Ronald Bolaño.

José Miguel Fernández hit 4-3 with 1 homer and 4 RBIs to command the winning artillery along with the designated batter Jefferson Delgado with also 4-3, with 2 doubles and 5 trailers, while Yasniel Gonzalez took off couple of homers by the losing side.

Similarly, the right-hander Yander Guevara starred a great show from the mound allowing only 3 hits in 9 chapters to guide Ciego de Ávila to a closed 2-0 win over Holguin, supported by decisive homer of outfielder Yoelvis Fiss.

In the other matches of the day, Artemisa knocked out 12-2 to Cienfuegos, Granma passed by a 5-4 margin over Villa Clara, and Camaguey filed its 1st victory by beating 7-3 to Guantánamo, while Industriales-Santiago de Cuba and Las Tunas vs. Sancti Spiritus challenges were suspended by rain.

Cricket
The Ambassadors' Cricket Tournament will have their tops today and tomorrow in Havana with the participation of foreign and Cuban teams. The prestigious event will take place at the Eduardo Saborit Sports Complex, with the presence of athletes representing Pakistan and Sri Lanka, along with a Caribbean cast and hosts.

Erick Gutierrez, acting director of INDER's recreation dept., explained that one of the objectives of the lid will be to fraternize and exchange experiences of that game while highlighting the potential it enjoys in the province of Guantánamo.

He pointed out that there are previous experiences in Cuba regarding cricket tournaments, but not of such magnitude, as the current lid has the full support of the diplomatic corps, mainly from the Caribbean Community.

Cricket (as it is known) is a sport of bat and ball, in which 2 teams of 11 players each compete on a grass field, roughly oval, whose length should not be lesser than that of a football field.

On the opening day on Friday, a promotional video that showed the discipline, and lectures and talks about its roots and history, emergence and development of the sport known as "cousin or grandparent" of baseball, were also given.

The Ambassadors' Cricket Tournament also serves to strengthen relations between Cuba and sports of Trinidad and Tobago, as confirmed by the ambassador of that Caribbean nation to Cuba, Jennifer Jones-Kernahan.

Basketball
The Cuban women's basketball team debuted today with dismal defeat facing Australia, elite team in the world, on the opening day of the World Championship, based in Turkey until October 5th.

Australians widely won by 90-57 points, in Group C, as reflected in the website of the International Federation of the discipline.

Penny Taylor with 20 points was the most outstanding player for the winners, while Yamara Amargo was her Cuban counterpart with 19, who will rival Belarus tomorrow morning and South Korea on September 30th.

In this universal event competes 16 casts divided into 4 groups where the top of each key ensures a place in the quarter-finals, while the occupants of the 2nd and 3rd places must play the sudden-death phase.

Nevertheless, Alberto Zabala, head coach of the Cuban team expressed feeling very optimistic and hopes to be finally included among the top 8.

Joseph Blatter Confirms Run For Another Term as FIFA President

Joseph Blatter has confirmed he will stand for a 5th term as FIFA president in 2015, position he has had since 1998, said in an official announcement after an Executive Committee Meeting held in Barna, Zurich.

Blatter, announced his intention to stand again after Micheal Platini confirmed that he will not run, something that didn't surprised him, and added: "You see, a mission is never finished... and my mission is not finished. I have told the FIFA Congress, I have told the congresses of the confederations.”

Blatter, 79 years old, wants to lead FIFA at least for 4 more years and only has one other contender, French Jerome Champagne, who has up to January to announce his final decision.