Off the wire
• Leading goal scorers of French Ligue 1  • French Ligue 1 standings  • Barca go top ater Saturday's games in Spain  • French Ligue 1 results  • Namibia's U-17 girls lose 0-5 to Nigeria's Flamingoes  • Spotlight: Xi concludes Middle East trip with promoted ties, cooperation  • Serbia wins again European Water Polo Championships  • Teenager in west Canada school shootings charged with first-degree murder  • Dortmund win, Leverkusen held in German Bundesliga  • Barca dig deep to win away to Malaga  
You are here: 　 Home

Cuba set to defend Caribbean Series title

Xinhua, January 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Cuba hopes to defend it's crown in the Caribbean Series for baseball scheduled to take place between Feb. 1st and 7th in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) where Cuba will be represented by island champions Ciego de Avila, announced local media on Saturday.

"Our aim is to give our all, get to the final and retain the title won in San Juan (Puerto Rico) in 2015. It was there, after 56 years, Cuba was crowned for an eighth time," the National Commissioner of Baseball, Heriberto Suarez, told local media.

The 12 players that led Ciego de Avila to the national throne are among the team of 28 baseball players. The team has also been reinforced with high-performing figures from the current national championship such as Yulieski Gourriell (Industriales) and Alfredo Despaigne (Alazanes de Granma).

Apart from Gouriell, Olympic champion in Athens 2004, and Despaigne, who plays for Japanese side Chiba Lotte Marines and is the highest performing Cuban baseball player abroad, there are also another five players who were champions in Puerto Rico in 2015 with Pinar del Rio.

Speedy pitcher Miguel Lahera has also been called upon due to his outstanding performance in the Colombian League with Caimanes de Barranquilla.

"It is a competitive team, better than the one that participated in the Pan American Games in Toronto in 2015. We have fast, strong players and we have a combination of high quality right and left-handed pitchers," said Ciego de Avila coach Roger Machado.

"I like this team a lot as all the players have experience at international level. They perform well at these events, in the championships where they have competed," added the coach.

The Cuban side will play between Feb. 2nd and 5th in the Caribbean tournament but the teams they will take on is still unknown as all the other competing countries (Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic) have still to announce which team will be representing them.

Villa Clara's participation in the 2014 edition marked Cuba's return to the regional tournament, which the island abandoned in 1961 after the professional system was replaced with new amateur baseball leagues. Endit