HAVANA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Cuba's press wept on Sunday after the national baseball team lost to the United States in the finals of the 37th edition of the sport's World Cup in Chinese Taipei, dashing Cuba's hopes of winning its 10th consecutive Cup.

    "The U.S. played better and is the new world champion," said Cuban state newspaper Granma. "The 6-3 final score shows you the great difference in the quality of play," it said.

    The newspaper said that the four U.S. pitchers had fulfilled their defensive plan, but that their Cuban counterparts had failed to do so. It also said that the U.S. defensive squad had been a major force containing several possible home runs and that finally the team had batted well.

    "All of Cuba feels the pain of this loss, not because we lost to the United States, but because we lost in baseball, the national passion that none of us escape from if we live on this island," Granma said.

    Despite Sunday's loss, Cuba remains a world-class baseball team, which knows how to pick itself up and has a history of great results in the Olympic Games and the World Baseball Classic, the newspaper said.

    The paper said the quality of competition in the cup had also shown that baseball is in good shape to return to the Games after the absence it will have in the 2012 London Games.