Cuba kicks off its participation in the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games this Monday with water polo as the pioneering discipline for the delegation, four days ahead of the opening ceremony scheduled for July 24 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
According to the sports portal JIT, the women's team will kick off at 9:20 AM against Colombia at the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center, while the men's team will play its first match at 8 PM against Guatemala at the same venue.
The debut against Colombia is not just any match for the Cuban team: in the qualifying tournament held in Cali, both teams faced each other twice with opposite outcomes.
“Always the first match is important, but this one has a special significance. It was against Colombia that we competed for the bronze medal in the qualifying tournament,” declared Miguel Artires Socarras, head of the women's coaching staff.
"In Cali, during the tournament that granted spots for Santo Domingo, we defeated the Colombians in the preliminary round but lost in the battle for third place," Artires specified, noting that Colombia arrives with a competitive edge: they participated in an open tournament in Brazil just 15 days ago.
The coach acknowledged that Cuba lacks international competition, although he is confident in their possibilities: "Although we have missed that exposure, that is, the competition. But that was something we knew, so we are still not giving up on our goal of medaling. We believe we have the potential to compete."
Artires highlighted Mayrelis Zuzunegui Morgan as the central figure of the group: “She has been and is a benchmark in our sport. She was with us in the dual role of coach and athlete; now she comes to contribute as an athlete. She is the key to the unity of our team.”
In the men's branch, head coach Mario Andrés Bermúdez Ariosa set a clear objective: "The goal is to be among the medalists in these Games. For this, we have a team that combines youth and experience."
Bermúdez Ariosa explained that veterans like Remis de Armas, Pedro Enrique Ponsa, Yasmani Rizo, and Raidel Martínez strengthen the group that achieved qualification, which is mainly composed of novice polo players: “I have always told them that they are the heart of the team, and that their experienced teammates have only come to support them.”
Both coaches agreed in pointing out Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Colombia as the toughest rivals in the tournament.
The male coach also acknowledged the limitations of competition: "These are teams that have had the opportunity to compete a lot, something we lack, as we arrived in Santo Domingo with just one tournament, the qualifying one."
Cuba arrives at these Games with a delegation of 504 athletes in 42 disciplines, aiming to rank among the top three in the medal table, matching or improving the third place achieved in San Salvador 2023 with 74 gold medals.
The context prior to the meeting was marked by the mass desertion of the canoeing team, where at least nine of the 12 members left the delegation during the Pan American Championship in Montreal on July 15.
Along with the polo players, the Cuban weightlifters traveled on Sunday, and they will begin competing on August 5th after establishing a training base in Dominican territory.
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