RHC Olympics Update no.7-21 September 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - Olympics Update no.7 - 21 September 2000 CUBAN BOXER FELIX SAVON HAS A FIRST EASY VICTORY Sydney, September 21(RHC)-- A brave Felix Savon in the 91 kilo division had an easy victory today over Nigerian Rasmus Ojemaye while Cuba and the United States suffered their first setbacks in boxing. These two countries came to Sydney with complete teams. Savon is looking for his third Olympic title in the 91 kilo division and had an easy start against a weaker contender. The bout had to be stopped in the second round after the Nigerian boxer recieved protection counts and the bout was 18 points to 3. Cuba accumulated its 9th triumph in preliminary boxing when Guillermo Ringondeaux won over Japan's Kazumasa Tsujimoto in the 54 kilo division. Rigondeaux put a good show of skills and strength on display. This was his second victory in Sydney. Mario Kindelan in the 60 kilo division, Maikro Romero in 48 and Jorge Gutierrez in 75 are next in line to fight. However, the Cuban team suffered a setback when Roberto Guerra in 67 lost to Romanian Roderl Simion by points 11-7. The two boxers were even up to the fourth round. The Cuban boxer used a mistaken strategy with Simion, and according to some observers the judges ignored several punches. Cuba has nine victores and one setback, with two Cuban who still haven't climed into the ring. The Cubans hope to match or, if possible, improve their Atlanta performance of seven gold and two silver medals. The U.S.'s Michael Bennet in the 91 kilo division defeated Wojciech Bartnik from Poland and will be facing Cuba's Felix Savon as next rival. This Bennet-Savon bout will be the long awaited revenge match since at the 1999 Houston World Championship the title automatically went to the American when Cuba boicotted the event and walked out after several glaring irregularities on the part of judges. Both boxers are confident about their possibilities and are anxious to win, since that bout secures the bronze medal. The winner is expected to have Ruslan Chagaev from Uzbekistan as rival for the gold medal. The balance of victories and defeats for the U.S. is 10-1 when there is only one American boxer left to enter into action. Latin American boxers did not have a lucky day and four athletes from Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and the Dominican Republic were eliminated. Mexico has still four of the 6 boxers it brought to Sydney, while Venezuela has two of four. Meanwhile, Colombia and the Dominican Republic put an end to their Olympic boxing expectations. CUBA FOR A VICTORY IN BASEBALL TO RESTORE PEACE AMONG FANS Sydney, September 21(RHC)-- After a day of rest, Australia will be Cuba's rival in baseball today. Cuba, olympic and world champ, suffered a surprising defeat against Holland 4-2, therefore tonight's game should be closely followed by fans. Cuba's next three games will keep local fans on the edge of their seats, for they might be the toughest confrontations in preliminaries: Australia, the United States and Japan. This may be the most important baseball game of the day for all the commentaries and expectations generated by the Cuba-Holland match. The Dutch team, with several pro players in its Ranks, put an end to a 21-straight Olympic win record. Pitcher Jose Ariel Contreras will be the starting pitcher. This will be his third presentation in Sydney. He was relief pitcher in the game against South Africa and then opened against South Korea. Cuba is tied in second place with Japan with 3 victories and a setback, and only the United States is undefeated. For some statistics, Cuba is up front in collective batting with 354, followed by Japan with 291 and South Korea with 265. In pitching the U.S. is up front and Cuba in third place. In defense Cuba is at its lowest in 5th place. However, players believe this defeat is only a stumbling block on their way to the revalidation of the Olympic title and claim to be ready for tonight's game. A MEDAL SLIPS FROM DIADENIS LUNA'S HANDS Sydney, September 21(RHC)-- Despite excellent preparation and courage, Cuban judo expert in women's 78 kilo division Diadenis Luna saw her Olympic aspirations vanish into thin air. She was defeated by Italian Emanuela Pierantozzi who along with Rumanian Marcela Richter took bronze, while China's Lin Tang became the new Olympic champion. Luna was anxiously looking for a medal to give Cuba its fifth in judo and therefore top place by countries. However, with this setback and the victory of Kosei Inque in men's 100 kilo division from Japan, this Asian country has the top position so far with four gold, one silver and one bronze. Cuba is second with four medals, two gold, one silver and a bronze. ON YOUR MARKS... REDAY... GO... Sydney, September 21 (RHC)-- Cuba will be represented today by five athletes in track and field competitions, as the king sport of the Olympic begins today. Zulia Calatayud in women's 800 meters, Freddy Mayola in men's 100 dash, along with Emeterio Gonzalez and Isbel Luaces in javelin throw for men and women and Alexis Paumier in men's Shot put. World record holder Javier Sotomayor will be making his first attempts tomorrow, September 22nd, and if he classifies then the final is set for the 24th. Sotomayor has in front of him the opportunity to put a golden touch to his impressive carrer, which counts with every title and mark any athlete would dream of winning. Wrapping up the performance of the Cuban delegation: in men's volleyball, the squad had a piece of cake with Egypt three sets to neil: 25-11, 25-18 and 25-15. Australia anad Brazil are next. Cuba continues without winning in women's softball. Its fifth adversity came against China 7 runs to nothing. Cuba is making its debut in women's softball. Japan is leading the tournament followed by Australia and China. The only latinamerican athletes that took part in individual competitions in men's sabre, Cuba's Alberto Maya and Diego Drajer of Argentina, were eliminated during the first round of competition. URUGUAY GETS ITS FIRST OLYMPIC MEDAL IN 36 YEARS Sydney, September 21 (RHC) -- Uruguayan cyclist Milton Wynants gave his country its first Olympic medal in 36 years after finishing second in the 40-kilometer by-points event in which Spanish Joan Llaneras claimed the gold and Russian Alexei Markov walked away with the bronze. Wynant finished in the 11th place during the 1996 Atlanta Games in the same competition and earned the bronze at the 1999 Winnipeg Pan American Games. Shortly after the event, Radio Havana Cuban spoke by telephone with Uruguay's Sports Minister, Jaime Trobo. "I think that Wynants' performance shows us that if you try hard and give the best of yourself it is possible to achieve good results and get medals. It also shows us how important a sports victory is for a nation because it helps strengthen the national spirit and, above all, it shows that practicing sports is essential for the people and society." Uruguay's last athlete to step up to the podium had been boxer Washington Rodriguez who took a bronze medal in the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games. OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE OF ROMANIA IN GYMNASTICS Sydney, September 21 (RHC) -- Romanian gymnasts had an outstanding performance Thursday in the all-around event taking the three medals in dispute. Andrea Raducan won the title with 38,893 points followed by her compatriot Simona Amanar with 38,642. The bronze went to Maria Olaru who accumulated 38,581 points. The Romanian team had also claimed the gold in the competition by teams last Tuesday. Since the 1960 Games of Rome, when the former Soviet Union's athletes won by teams and all the medals in the all-around, no other country had equaled that performance. TRACK AND FIELD COMPETITIONS BEGIN FRIDAY Sydney, September 21 (RHC) -- Track and and field competitions of the 27th Olympic Games begin Friday and Latin America has good chances to get the first gold in the 20-kilometer march. Noe Hernandez, Bernardo Segura and Daniel Garcia, from Mexico, Julio Martinez, from Guatemala and 1996 Olympic Champion, Ecuadoran Jefferson Perez will be on hand for the event. The representatives from Russia, Italy, Spain and China will be the main rivals of the Latin American athletes. Among them are Russians Roman Rasskazov, Vladimir Andreyev and world champion Ilya Markov. DUTCH VAN DEN HOOGENBAND AND BRUIJN CONTINUE MAKING HEADLINES Sydney, September 21 (RHC) -- Dutch Pieter van den Hoogenband is about to become the "King of Swimming" in Sydney after his performance there. Van den Hoogenband made the best mark of the 50-meter freestyle classifying heats Thursday. The 22-year-old star swimmer has already earned gold medals in 100 and 200 meters freestyle, beating swimming stars Russian Alexander Popov and Australian Ian Thorpe, respectively. For her part, Inge de Bruijn, also from the Netherlands, continued her extraordinary performance in Sydney and took another gold, this time in 100 meters freestyle with 53.83 seconds. The silver and bronze medals went to Swedish Therese Alshammar and the U.S.'s Jenny Thompson. In the meantime, Hunagarian Agnes Kovacs walked away with the title in women's 200-meter breaststroke with 2:24,35. The silver and bronze went to the U.S.'s Kristy Kowal and Amanda Beard. In other results, Italian Massimiliano Rosolino gave his country its fifth medal in swimming after winning the 200-meter medley with 1:58,98. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. Todos los derechos reservados. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= rhc-eng-19840 2000-Sep-21 22:52:27