Baseball

Matanzas, Granma, Isla de la Juventud, Artemisa and Industriales are already qualified for the second round of the 54th Cuban Baseball Series, however there are three positions left in dispute.

Thursday's event left room for three other positions with Ciego de Ávila as the first contender to take one of the positions left but Pinar del Río, Holguín and Villa Clara are struggling to qualify as well while Santiago de Cuba can't be left out because anything could happen on a baseball field.

Industriales beat Ciego de Avila 1-0 but Villa Clara lost again to Matanzas and this gave the ticket to Industriales' 'Blues' and Isla de la Juventud to qualify for the next phase.

Pinar del Rio beat Holguin 13-4 and the team has yet to play five more games with the chance of winning a place among the eight in the standings of the qualifying board. Pinar del Rio has this advantage over the rest still running to qualify. So, fans expect high competitive games which close the regular phase on Friday.

Cuban Cyclist Alcolea Places 15 in Individual Time Trial in Costa Rica

Cuban cyclist Arnold Alcolea finished fifteenth in the fourth stage of the Costa Rica Tour, individual time trial run between San Joaquin and Carrizal cities.

Alcolea, who covered 11,3 miles in 33:49 minutes, was the best man of his team, as well as teammate José Mojica (21st with 34: 22 minutes), among the 87 cyclists involved in the contest.

According to the official website of the event, the fourth round was won by the local Rodolfo Villalobos (31:17), of the team Junta de Protección Social-Giant (JPS- Giant), followed by Josué Gonzalez (Coopenae Movistar Economy / 31: 29) and Roman Villalobos (JPS Giant / 31: 53), in that order.

Despite young Villalobos' win in the under 23 category, Juan Carlos Rojas (Frijoles Tierniticos-Arroz Halcon), also Costa Rican, remained on top of the general standings as he arrived at the finishing line in 32 : 00 minutes.

In this list, the best placed Cuban is Mojica, who comes 15 in the standings.

Meanwhile, Alcolea remained as leader of the intermediate sprints, with 19 units, but he lost three spots in the point race (35), after starting on Wednesday in second position.

With this performance, the national team of Cuba now appears fifth in an event led by the local club JPS- Giant.

Eight Central American Games Winner to Fight for Medals

Eight of the nine Cuban winners of the boxing tournament at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico, will fight on Friday for a medal during the fifth day of the Playa Girón National Boxing Classic in Villa Clara. Semifinals will take place on Saturday and the finals on Sunday.

Flyweight Yosbany Veitía (Sancti Spiritus) fights Yaisel González (Matanzas) and featherweight Olympic Champ Robeisy Ramírez (Cienfuegos) against Yasser Pérez (Matanzas).

Thursday's events brought no surprises, Erislandy Savón (91kg from Guantanamo) and Henrich Ruiz (Isla de la Juventud) won their fights to qualify for the semifinals. Cruiserweight Erislandy Savon beat José Chapotín (Artemisa). Henrich Ruiz defeated Frank Sanchez ( Guantanamo).

Two-time world champ Lázaro Álvarez (Pinar del Rio) has the best chance to win his fight against Eduardo Ramírez (Havana) in the lightweight division.

Welter lightweight Yasnier Toledo (Camaguey) will cross punches with Vladimir Díaz (Camaguey). Welter weight Roniel Iglesias (Pinar del Rio) fights Adrián Mestre (Matanzas).

Middle weight Arlen López (Guantanamo) will face challenger Yaikel Kindelán (Santiago de Cuba).

World Champ Julio César La Cruz (Camaguey) will take on Luis Len (Las Tunas) for the 81kg title.

Heavyweight Yoandris Toirac has the mission to stand up to the support challenger Yuniel Saúl Castro will receive from the Villa Claran fans.