Boxing

The 2nd day of the Playa Girón National Boxing Tournament left unexpected setbacks for middleweight Carlos Banteur and light Iván Oñate to men of lower rank.

However, they imposed their quality Yunieski Palmero, Erislandy Savon, Julio Cesar La Cruz (81 kg) and Lazaro Alvarez (60) to close this competitive round that will continue tomorrow.

Cycling

José Mojica finished 9th and was the best Cuban cyclist in the 3rd stage of the 50th Costa Rica Tour, after covering 118.7 km. between Guápiles and Paraiso towns.

Mojica reached the finish line at 8:48 minutes from the leaders, local brothers Cesar and Juan Carlos Rojas (3: 18.31 hours), representatives of the national club of Frijoles Los Tierniticos-Arroz Halcón.

According to the official website of the event the victory of the Rojas, with a difference of more than 3 minutes over the 3rd seat, the also local Roman Villalobos (Junta de Proteccion Social-Giant/+ 3:18), positioned Juan Carlos as the new leader of the overall classification, escorted by his brother.

Arnold Alcolea also excelled for Cuba when finishing 2nd in the 1st intermediate sprint, and now appears on top of this event, with 19 points, while he is also the runner up in the points race with 35 units, 1 less than Argentina's Sebastian Tolosa (Buenos Aires Provincia).

Cuban Lawmakers Praise Performance in Veracruz Games

The Health and Sports Commission of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP by its Spanish acronym) sent an acknowledgment to the Cuban delegation that participated in the 22nd Central American and Caribbean Games, held in Veracruz, Mexico.

The letter, delivered by the permanent working group of the Cuban parliament to Antonio Eduardo Becali, president of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER by its Spanish acronym), highlights the role played by athletes, coaches and support staff in that contest, where Cuba was represented in 34 sports and won first place.

Cycling

Lisandra Guerra and Marlies Mejias ratify Cuba among the world powers in women's track cycling by finishing the current season among the leaders of the world ranking in several competitive modalities.

The recent update of the International Cycling Union, issued on December 8th, shows Guerra as one of the most stable and competitive sprinters in the world, while Mejias has become one of the most complete cyclists, with her 5th seat in the omnium event.

Thus, Guerra ends her foreign participation of the year in third place in the 500 meter time trial, with 375 points, while she was 6th in the sprint (505) and 14th in the keirin (390).

Chess

The Cuban Leinier Domínguez had good performances today and appears 5th after 3 rounds in the Basque system in the Chess Mind Games, tournament held in the Chinese capital.

Apparently Leinier has very good results when playing 2 simultaneous games with the same opponent as he earned 3.5 points from a possible 6, including wins in 2 of the matches.

The competition among women is led by the host Xue Zhao with 5.5 points and is escorted by her compatriot Yifan Hou (5) and Indian Humphy Koneru (4.5).

The two rounds will be played tomorrow to end a singular contest that usually closes the season and manages to bring together major players in the world in both sexes.

The Chess Mind Games, which began on June 11th, awarded medals in the 20 and 3 minutes games, known as rapid and Blitz modalities, and in both cases Grischuk took the gold among men. Among women, the Russian Valentina Gunina won the rapid event and Chinese Yifan reigned in the Blitz.

Spain will Host Women's Basketball World Cup in 2018

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has confirmed that Spain will host the Women's Basketball World Cup in 2018, scheduled from September 1st to 9th.

FIBA official sources said that 23 of the 26 members making up FIBA's Central Board voted. According to the report 18 were in favor of Spain's bid, while 5 supported Israel.

The Spanish candidacy was supported at the same time that its female basketball team is experiencing successes, including winning EuroBasket Women 2013 and finishing runners-up at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women.

For the 2018 competition, FIBA will change the official name of the tournament: Women's World Championship for Women's World Cup.

Thus, Spain will host the women's tournament 4 years after hosting the male, which was played during the 1st half of last September.