Cubans were outraged on Thursday over a US government decision to keep the island's Olympic champion team out of the inaugural World Baseball Classic next year.
While Cuban government officials had yet to react to Wednesday's decision, and sports officials declined comment, people on the street were angry because it meant they won't see their players go up against the American major league stars.
"Enough already!" exclaimed Antonio Mayeta, whose brother plays for Havana's Industriales baseball team. "It's unbelievable. This is about sports, not politics. In Cuba, baseball is our culture."
Mayeta, who works at a state-operated grocery store, added, "Everyone was so anxious to see those games."
Baseball's first World Cup-style tournament, which includes 16 teams, will run from March 3-20 in the US, Puerto Rico and Japan.
The US Treasury Department, which issues permits for commercial transactions with Cuba, cited the long-standing trade and travel embargo against the communist nation for its decision.
Organizers will work to have the decision reversed, according to Paul Archey, the senior vice president of Major League Baseball International, and Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the Major League Baseball Players Association.
Puerto Rico's Secretary of State Fernando Bonilla also offered to help. He said he'll meet on Friday with the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Puerto Rico, and seek help from Luis Fortuno, Puerto Rico's nonvoting representative in the US Congress, and from the director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Washington.
The Cuban team likely would have included only players residing in Cuba, and not defectors such as Jose Contreras, Orlando Hernandez and Livan Hernandez, who have become major league stars, organizers said.
In the tournament schedule announced last week, Cuba was to play its three first-round games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, facing Panama on March 8, the Netherlands on March 9 and Puerto Rico the following day.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS