Baseball
Industriales, the most winning team of Cuba's Baseball Series, won by a score to 2-1 over Penn State, the University of Pennsylvania, in the 1st friendly match as part of an exchange between the two countries.
The Latinoamericano Stadium in Havana, the Cuban baseball temple, hosted the meeting on Monday afternoon, which was slated to take place on Sunday, but had to be suspended due to rain.
The locals decided the match in the very opening chapter where after scoring 2 runs facing the starter Taylor Lehman, managed the couples of Andrés Hernández' and Wilfredo Aroche's RBIs.
Interviewed by Radio Havana Cuba, the manager of Penn State, Rob Cooper, said he was impressed by the architecture and beauty of Havana:
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For his part, Industriales' manager, Javier Méndez, assessed the exchange as very positive, and after the meeting said the manager of Penn State asked to exchange shirts, as a symbol of "brotherhood and comradeship between the two teams."
On the subject, Carlos Tabares, the former-captain of Team Cuba and an Industriales' figure, said that these games improve relations between Cuba and the United States. And regarding baseball, one learns new pitching strategies and another form of playing.
Penn State's visit was coordinated by the Center for Marti Studies, based in Havana, and is basically academic, said Vilma Mederos, head of its Dept. of International Relations.
Besides baseball games, several conferences about Cuba-US relations, the history of Cuban sports, Cuban Culture, and a special lecture on José Martí and sports are also planned.
The visiting squad will play 3 other friendly matches: against the current national champion, Ciego de Avila, tomorrow, Wednesday, Mayabeque on the 27th to will close with Matanzas on Saturday, the 28th.
Boxing
Cuba's Los Domadores, runner-up of the last World Series of Boxing, will receive Otamans of Ukraine on January 15th, in the 1st week of the 6th Season of WSB.
The Cubans, champions of the 4th World Series of Boxing in 2014, will compete in Group A along with China's Dragons and Algeria's Desert Hawks.
After facing the Ukrainians, the disciples of Rolando Acebal will visit Algerians on January 29th and China's Dragons on Saturday February 13th, to close the 1st round.
In the 2nd round, the Cubans start visiting the Otamans on February 26th and then get home to Algerians on Friday, March 11th and the Dragons on April 1st.
Colombian triplist Caterine Ibargüen increased today her chances of leading the Survey of the Cuban Prensa Latina agency to choose the Best Athletes in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2015.
Ibargüen, who won this year's Diamond League for the 3rd time, joined the vote of the Venezuelan Ultimas Noticias newspaper, which considered the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt the best among men.
The also world champion in Beijing and Toronto Pan queen reached 7 points in dispute with Cuban pole vaulter Yarisley Silva (11) and Jamaican sprinter Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce (8).
In turn, Bolt received 20 votes as Best Male Athlete, in a sort of coup de grâce that makes difficult his hunt by Argentinean football star Lionel Messi, the 2nd most voted with 11 points.
The votes will be accepted until Monday, December 21st at the e-mail address deportes@prensa-latina.cu site, and results will be released a day later.
Football
The coach of the national team of Nicaragua, Costa Rican Henry Duarte, summoned today 25 players with a view to have a couple of friendly matches against Cuba and another against a team from Switzerland.
The squad has the presence of figures such as Jason Telémaco, who plays in the 2nd division with local Real Estelí, said the Nicaraguan Football Federation (FENIFUT), which made public the list of those invited.
Nicaragua is scheduled to play a friendly game against the Berne Swiss team on December 2nd, and 2 others against Cuba on December 8th and 11th .
