Cuba secured the silver medal this weekend at the III International Baseball Cup for the Blind of the WBSC, held at the Simone Piani Stadium in Castiglione della Pescaia, Tuscany, after losing to the local team Italy by a score of 4-10 in the tournament's grand final.
The team, led by Roberto Carmona and congratulated on social media by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, arrived at the decisive match undefeated throughout the tournament, which also made them the defending champions of the title won in 2024 against the same rival. Italy, however, took advantage of playing at home and the support of its fans to assert its dominance, according to the official Cuban News Agency.
The match had a promising start for Cuba: at the end of the second inning, a combination of an opponent's error and three hits —one of them by Maikel Meriño, who drove in the first run— put the Cubans in the lead. The Italian response came immediately with five consecutive hits in the third inning that resulted in three runs, putting the host team ahead for the first time in the tournament.
Cuba did not give up and regained the lead in the fourth inning thanks to runs driven in by Iván Gordo and Yaniel Pérez. However, the fifth inning proved to be decisive: Italy scored five runs that inning and maintained the lead until the final out to claim the championship.
Great Britain completed the podium by defeating Chinese Taipei 9-2 in the third-place match, held on the same day.
Cuba's performance in the group stage had been overwhelming. The Cubans crushed the United States 13-0 in their debut, then defeated the Czech Republic 18-0, and finally overcame Great Britain 17-3, advancing undefeated as leaders of Group A. The tournament brought together eight teams: Cuba, Italy, Great Britain, Chinese Taipei, the United States, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and the Czech Republic.
Díaz-Canel reacted to the loss with a message on his social media where he acknowledged the merit of the team despite the outcome. "With grit and dignity, our blind baseball team reached the world final undefeated and fell to Italy, which played at home," wrote the Cuban leader. "World silver, but they are champions to our people."
Blind baseball is an adapted format recognized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in which a sound ball is used, matches are played over five innings or 90 minutes, and teams consist of players with visual impairments alongside a sighted player at second base.
This was the third edition of the world tournament for the discipline. The first, in 2022 in the Netherlands, was won by Italy. In 2024, Cuba snatched the title by defeating them 2-1 in the final held in the United Kingdom, an achievement that earned the team recognition among the best Cuban athletes of that year. In this edition, Italy took revenge on its home turf.
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