2016 Olympics

The recent classification of badminton player Osleni Guerrero for the 2016 Olympic Games, taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 5-21 increased the number of Cuban athletes participating, in 14 sports so far, to 86.

Jose Antonio Miranda, the head of the High Performing Athletes Department of the Cuban Sports Institute said that this figure is likely to increase, as there are still some sports pending qualifiers in May and June, including athletics, cycling and boxing, among others.

Miranda reiterated the country's aim to rank among the top 20 in the games by winning five or six gold medals, and said that Cuban athletes are receiving careful personalized training.

Judo Grand Prix of Almaty

There was Cuban presence on Saturday by the women Maricet Espinosa (63) and Onix Cortés (70) and men Magdiel Estrada (73) and Ivan Silva (81) in the Judo Grand Prix that began Friday in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Espinosa, Silva and Estrada rank 13, 18, and 21 respectively, while Cortes should get her direct ticket to the Olympics through the continental ranking  – the ranking grants 14 direct tickets to women - and this tournament awards 300 points to the champions of each of the 14 divisions convened.

Meanwhile, women Yalennis Castillo (78) and Idalis Ortiz (+78) and men José Armenteros (100) and Alex García (+100) will be the Cuban representatives on Sunday.  Castillo, Ortiz, Armenteros and García appear 15th, 2nd, 9th and 20th, respectively.

Another Cuban with possibilities of attending the Brazilian Olympic Games is Asley González (90), who ranks 11th, but is not registered for this contest due to a slight discomfort in his right shoulder.

Last weekend, the pupils of trainers Justo Noda (m) and Armando Padron (w) competed in the Grand Slam of Baku, Azerbaijan, with bronze medals for Espinosa and Silva, while Mestre and Ortiz both finished 7th.

This tournament in Almaty is attended by 399 judokas - 253 men and 146 women - from 84 countries, all seeking being included, ratified or improving their positions in the Olympic ranking which grants 22 (for men) and 14 (for women) direct tickets for the Brazilian summer feast.

Futsal tournament

In an interesting game that went to overtime, Cuba lost 5-6 to Panama, in one of the semifinals of the 2016 CONCACAF Futsal Championship tournament in Costa Rica.

As reflected the event's website, Panama took an advantage in the first half, with three consecutive goals; by Michael de Leon, in the sixth minute, and two in a row by Angel Sanchez (12´ and 14´).

Then in the 15 ', Dennys Marquez scored for Cuba, but Carlos Perez scored at 20' for Panama, thus finishing the first half with a 4-1 lead.

But early in the second half, pupils of Coach Clemente Reynoso achieved an unexpected recovery by scoring four consecutive goals through Jhonnet Martinez, Sandy Dominguez, Marquez and Reinier Fiallo.

However, Carlos Perez scored again for Panama  and sent the game to extra time, when Fernando Mena scored the goal to give victory to Panama.

Cuba Saturday fights for the bronze medal against Guatemala, who lost in the other semifinal 1-7 to Costa Rica, leaving Panama and Costa Rica to play for the scepter. These four teams have already qualified for the World Cup in Cali, Colombia, next September.