Cuba loses its first game of the tournament against Mexico on the last day of the Super Round
Cuba and France will face off this Sunday at 8:00 am, Havana time, for the first Baseball5 Youth World Cup, which has been held in Ankara, Turkey since last October 10. Bronze will be decided on the same day at 4:00 am between Mexico and Turkey.
Having secured the finalist ticket on the first day of the Super Round, the Cubans played Mexico in their final Super Round match on Saturday.
In the match, for the first time the island team lost a game in the entire tournament. This was when the Mexicans beat them 7-1 in the first of three matches.
However, the Cubans did not give up and came back in the next two sets to finish the Super Round and Qualifier undefeated with a record of 8-0 and 16 wins and only one loss. The 2-1 final score against Mexico was the result of partial scores of 1-7, 7-6 - in two extra innings - and 3-1, making Cuba the only team with an undefeated record.
Nonetheless, achieving the title of this first youth world edition will not be easy. Their rivals have studied the Cubans' offensive work. In the last two games the Cubans have found it more difficult to score, displaying a different scoring rhythm in the closest encounters of the tournament so far. Without a doubt, the quality of the rivals, France (#2 in the World Ranking), Chinese Taipei (#1), and Mexico (#12) is much higher than the quality faced in the group stage.
Turkey was surprised by China Taipei's 2-0 victory in this Super Round, sending them to fourth place. Despite the outcome, they were still able to move on to the bronze medal match on Sunday against Mexico.
As Cuba did, France also had to sweat to beat China 2-1, scoring 1-4, 4-3, and 4-3 in an extra inning, finishing the Super Round with a 4-1 record and showing a 7-1 balance throughout the tournament, putting them in a strong position as the second best team in the tournament and clearly aiming for the title this Sunday.
