Cuban baseball to face major international challenges

After the echoes of the National Series in its 54th edition, the Cuban baseball is now going through a period of apparent calm, marked by the preparation for the key commitments in the international arena.

In the immediate future, it especially stands out the baseball tournament of the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games, agreed for July 10 to 26 in that Canadian city where the Cuban team will attend with the purpose of recovering the scepter lost in Guadalajara 2011, in Mexico.

Heriberto Suarez, national commissioner of this sport, told in recent statements the press that Cuba will participate in the Canadian continental competition with a luxury team, made up by leading figures, in order to occupy a prominent space on the podium.

In the event of Toronto 2015, based on the modernized Pan American Baseball and Softball Center of Ajax President's Choice, the Cuban side will debut on July 11 against Colombia.

Then they will face in successive order the United States, Puerto Rico and the host defending champion, to close the qualifiers against the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, in search of one of the four tickets to the semifinals.

The Cuban pre-selection -from which will emerge the team to the continental contest- will be announced in mid May, for which the best players of the domestic classic will be eligible, including those hired by professional franchises of Japan and that northern country.

Prior to Toronto 2015, Cuba will have another vital commitment in its preparation, the match against the US college national team in the first days of July.

Several localities in the US state of North Carolina will host the traditional friendly match between the two baseball powers, fourth consecutive since 2012, when there were resumed after 16 years of interruption.

Already in midst of the maelstrom associated with the development of the 55th National Series, scheduled to begin in late August, Cuba will take another demanding challenge-from November 8 to 21- with the first edition of Premier 12, new version of the World Championship.

The grand event will bring together the 12 best positioned teams in the rankings of the World Confederation of Baseball and Softball, with the preliminary stage agreed to Taipei China, while the semifinal and final rounds will be at the majestic Tokyo Dome, in the Japanese capital.

With the intention of becoming the world's most important platform for national teams, the Premier 12 will award the highest number of points valid for the universal list, including all events scheduled on the international calendar of the discipline.

So, Cuba will rival in the demanding contest with the major powers of the world, led by Japan, the United States, the Dominican Republic and South Korea, along with Chinese Taipei, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela, Nederlands and Italy

Achieving a prominent place on the awards podium -and even fighting for the title-is the fundamental objective of the Cuban team at its incursion into the Premier 12 World Championship, to demonstrate that baseball in the Caribbean island is still reference at global scale.