Baseball

Ciego de Ávila put about to kill the playoffs after surpassing Granma 9-4 on Monday and placed at 1 step to qualify for the final of the 54th Cuban Baseball Championships.

Granma dominated until the 8th with good job of Lázaro Blanco, homers of Yordanis Alarcón, Adrián Morano and Alfredo Despaigne, though insufficient, as they left 12 runners on and the loaded bases twice.

Osvaldo Vázquez with his 4th homer stoked up Roger Machado's pupils, who in the 8th chapter tied facing reliever Juan Ramón Olivera's pitching and frustration for Granma's representatives soon arrived when Yeniet Pérez drove in 1 and Andy Zamora and José Adolís boosted 2 per capita to ensure the party; then, reliever Dachel Duquesne smiled and Vladimir García's dismal performance turned into the past.

Tuesday at the José Ramón Cepero Stadium, and looking for the checkmate, Ciego de Ávila will show Yander Guevara, while Granma is still seeking its lifeline.

Finally, Matanzas and Isla de la Juventud, the latter will classify with just 1 win for the finals for the first time, also will parallel clash at the Victoria de Girón Stadium.

Matanzas, needing 1 victory to keep breathing in the semifinal, will use Jonder Martínez, while its rivals go for glory betting on Yoalkis Cruz.

Swimming
Getting marks to qualify for the Pan-American Games in Toronto is the main objective of Cuban athletes competing from Monday through Friday at the Sports City's Olympic Pool on the occasion of the 28th edition of the Marcelo Salado Swimming Cup.

More than 200 hosts share the journey with representatives of clubs from Ecuador and the Bahamas, as well as an American team, all governed by programs from 9 am for younger and from 4pm. among the adults.

Meanwhile, Tomás Haces, methodologist of the Cuban Swimming Federation said that besides Toronto, competition trials will validate time records looking for places for the World Championships in Kazan from August 5th-16th.

The specialist said that simultaneously with the morning session on Friday, the 5-km test will be performed on open waters covering 13-14 and 15 years old or more categories in a circuit adjacent to the Marcelo Salado Swimming National School, located at 1st and 38th streets, in the municipality of Playa, in the Cuban capital.

Wrestling

In early April, a Cuban wrestling team of just over 10 members will depart for the United States, and it will be the first flight of a total of 3 during 2015, perhaps the most in one calendar year in history.

The best local talents of this style finished 4th in the World Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan last year, an achievement that led them to classify for the Team World Cup in Los Angeles to be held on April 11th and 12th. It will be an event where the great powers of the discipline will shake hands before they will clash on the mattress.

Cubans are traveling with suitcases full of aspirations and ambitions. And that is not hidden by the head coach of this modality, Julio Mendieta, who, as solicitous as always did not hesitate to make clear that the struggle is with the Americans.

The Cubans, anchored in Group A, also have as companions Mongolia (6th in the World ranking) and Russia (1st); thus the high quality of the vent.

The World Cup in Los Angeles is the first stop on US soil as a bilateral match will be held in New York in May and the World Cup in Las Vegas, from September 7th-12th, will also be enjoyed for all, said Eduardo Pérez Téllez, national commissioner of the discipline.