MÉRIDA, Mexico – Boxer Julio César La Cruz’s defeat in his debut, swimmer Andrea Becali and rower Yariulvis Cobas’ failure to qualify, and Lisbeth Hernández’s 36th place in the Olympic air rifle competition have marked a dismal Sunday at the Olympics for Cubans so far.
This Sunday, at around 2 p.m. Cuban time, Andy Pereira will close the Cuban performance when he faces Brazilian Hugo Calderano in table tennis.
La Cruz falls to Cuban Alfonso who competes for Azerbaijan
The double Olympic champion La Cruz He lost his fight against his compatriot Loren Berto Alfonsocompeting for Azerbaijan.
The La Cruz flag bearer lost his debut in a close fight (2-3).
“It was a tough fight, it was something we knew in advance. Loren Berto was a European and world champion, an Olympic medalist; he was a student of ours, they come from the same school and they know each other. The second round was the decisive one, in a very even fight,” said Rolando Acebal, head coach of the Cuban boxing team.
“I knew I was fighting the best in the world and in the end the result went in my favor,” Alfonso said after the fight.
“It was a good fight. In the ring I didn’t think about whether I was winning or losing, I was just doing my job,” he added.
Alfonso replicated La Cruz’s riposte style and ended up destabilizing the one competing for Cuba.
This Cuban-Azeri had already won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics and before Paris he had won the world and European titles.
Swimmer Becali out of semi-finals
Ana Becali She was eliminated from the semi-finals in the women’s 200-meter (m) freestyle in Olympic swimming.
The Cuban finished eighth in her qualifying round with a time of 2:03.38 minutes, far from her best times.
Yariulvis Cobas does not make it to the quarterfinals
The T-shirt Yariulvis Cobas She did not make it to the quarter-finals in the women’s single sculls, in repechage 1.
Cobas finished third in the first heat of the repechage with a time of 8:10.64 minutes and did not finish among the top two to be able to advance to the next phase.
Lisbeth Hernandez, 36th place in 10-meter air rifle
The shooter Lisbeth Hernandezfor his part, finished in 36th place in the 10-meter air rifle event.
Hernandez, who accumulated 624.7 points in the six rounds of shooting, did not come close to the eight qualified for the final.
