体坛英语新闻：Cuba to travel to Canada for baseball tournament

HAVANA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- A Cuban baseball team will travel to Canada to participate in the 3rd World Baseball Challenge to be played in August, aiming at winning the championship and erasing the disappointing image of the Cuban baseball team in the recent friendly game in the United States.

The World Baseball Challenge will be played from Aug. 13 to 22 in "Citizen Field" stadium, in Prince George city, British Columbia.

Cuba will be represented by the team Ciego de Avila, winner of the 51st National Series of the season 2011-2012.

The team includes catchers Lisdey Diaz and Osvaldo Vazquez, together with infielders Jozzen Cuesta, Humberto Morales, Mario Vega, Jose Adolis Garcia, Yorbis Borroto, Daikel Leiva, Jenny Reyes, Raul Gonzalez and Ruben Valdes.

The line-up also include fielders Rusney Castillo, Yoelvis Fiss, Isaac Martinez, Abdel Civil and Ricardo Bordon, as well as pitchers Vladimir Garcia, Yander Guevara and Osmar Carrero, essential players when the team won the series.

Vladimir Garcia, 25, champion in the 2010 Taichung Inter-Continental Cup, and one of the few Cuban pitchers to macke straight throws up to 97 miles (155 km/h).

The team is led by Roger Machado, former catcher of Cuba' s national team.

Besides Cuba, three-time Olympic champion and 25 times world champion, the World Baseball Challenge includes U.S., Japan, Chinese Taipei, Bahamas and the host country.

The competition will be an all-against-all in a single round and the four best teams will play semifinals.

Cuba will debut on Aug. 14 against Chinese Taipei and later will face Canada (15), Bahamas (17), Japan (18) and U.S. (20).

The crossed games between the first against the fourth and the second against the third will be played on Aug. 21, and the final game will be on Aug. 22.

This will be the third international presentation of Cuban baseball since June.