Cuba does not sleep when its team plays, said today on Twitter Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel, to highlight this morning's game, in which the national team won its first victory at the 5th World Baseball Classic.

With a powerful offense of 21 hits, Cuba beat Panama 13-4, obtained its first victory and stayed alive at the 5th World Baseball Classic in Group A at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium, in Taipei, China.

Cuban lightweight Lazaro Alvarez will become today the first Cuban boxer to face a 10-round fight, after the Cuban Institute of Sport granted its fighters the authorization to fight in the professional circuits.

Team Cuba once again fell victim to its poor hitting and lost 2-4 to its nemesis, the Netherlands, in the opening game of Pool A of the 5th World Baseball Classic in Taichung, Taiwan.

Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero highlighted today on Twitter the passion of Cubans for baseball and affirmed that for the 5th World Baseball Classic, the performance of the national team will be closely followed in Cuba.

Right-hander Yariel Rodriguez has been the designation of Cuban mentor Armando Jhonson to open today against the Netherlands, in Cuba's debut at the 5th World Baseball Classic in Group A at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium, in Taipei, China.

Cuba is on the Olympic podium, if not in the first place, emphasized today the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, at the Pan American Stadium in Havana, after inaugurating an athletic track donated by Panam Sports.

The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, and the president of Panam Sports, Neven Illic, officially opened today a track donated by the continental sports organization at the Pan American Stadium in East Havana.

Cuba finished today without a medal in the first day of the Grand Slam of Judo in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, a competition that will conclude Sunday with the participation of 364 representatives from 49 countries in search of points for the world and Olympic rankings.

The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), German Thomas Bach, will officially inaugurate today a track at the Pan American Stadium, in eastern Havana, the headquarters of Cuban athletics.

Cuba will debut today with Zamarit Gregorio Vasconsuelo, in the 48 kilograms (kg), Yurisleidy Hernandez (52 kg) and Arnaes Odelin (57 kg) in the first day of the Grand Slam of Judo in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, a competition that brings together 364 athletes from 49 countries.

The president of the International Olympic Commitee Thomas Bach, and other high-level sports directives, arrived in Havana on Thursday to meet with representatives of the local Olympic Committee and will open new sports facilities.

The visit to Cuba by the presidents of the International Olympic Committee and the Pan-American Sports Organization on Thursday and Friday constitutes a recognition to the significant role played by the island nation in international sports.

Cuban sprinter Omara Durand won the 400m of the T12 category (profound visual impairment) at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai, where a day earlier she had been victorious in the double hectometer.

Cuban Carlos Daniel Albornoz will seek his second prize today at the Benalmadena Festival, in Spain, where he was already among the winners of the unusual Chess 960.

In the best exhibition so far in its tour around Asia, the Cuban team that is preparing to take part in the upcoming 5th World Baseball Classic defeated 4-0 the Wei Chuan Dragons club, from the professional league of Taipei, China.