HAVANA, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- The year of 2013 saw Cuba excel internationally in combat sports such as boxing, traditionally considered one of the island's strengths, judo and taekwondo, while wrestling and other non-combat disciplines fared less well.
Cuba bounced back from five years of dismal boxing, as homegrown talent fled the island to fight pro elsewhere, to win five medals at the World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, including two titles thanks to Julio Cesar la Cruz and Lazaro Alvarez. Cuba placed second among 114 teams.
The island is also doing well in its debut at the World Series of Boxing, with 18 wins in 20 fights, maintaining its lead as the strongest boxing squad in the tournament.
One key strategy for Cuba in regaining its boxing dominance has been to train more than one fighter per weight category, with a younger generation of boxers proving their mettle.
Three young Cubans climbed to the top of the podium at the Cadet World Championships in Kiev, including Alayn Boudet, Maykel Franco and Joahnys Argilagos, the latter distinguished as the best fighter of the event.
In judo, Cuba won two titles at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, thanks to 2012 London Olympic Games gold-medal winner Idalis Ortiz and silver-medal winner Asley Gonzalez.
Cuba also won the bronze medal in team judo at the Brazilian tournament.
The island went on to take first place at both the Luxembourg Open and the Pan-American Championships in Costa Rica, second place at the U.S. Grand Prix, third place at the Belgian Open, and the World Cadet crown, won by the young Gusmari Garcia.
But the surprise medal wins came in taekwondo, with Cuba getting the second-highest number of medals at the World Taekwondo Championships in Puebla, Mexico, only behind top-placed South Korea. Glenhis Hernandez and Rafael Alba took gold medals, with bronzes going to Robelis Despaigne, Yania Aguirre and Yamisel Nunez.
Cuban taekwondo suffers from a lack of experience in international competition, as the country can little afford to bankroll its athletes' trips abroad, but dedicated coaches and athletes still scored significant successes.
In other sports, Cuba had a more lackluster year.
Cuban track and field stars did poorly at the World Championships in Moscow, ranking in the 14th place.
Triple jumper Pedro Pablo Pichardo saved the country from further embarrassment by winning a silver medal, while pole vaulter Yarisley Silva won a bronze, as did discus thrower Yarelis Barrios.
Canoeist Angel Fournier provided the first world silver medal for Cuba in the sport at Chungju, South Korea, complemented by a bronze at the World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Lisandra Guerra won a bronze at the World Track Cycling Championships in Minsk, Belarus, after an outstanding performance at the Pan-American tournament with three golds and a silver.
Osleni Guerrero, Cuba's only standing warrior in badminton, climbed from No. 92 to No. 54 in the global rankings, after totaling 24,680 points in 10 tournaments.
Chess player Leinier Dominguez ranks 12th worldwide with 2,757 Elo points, and was crowned at the Grand Prix at Thessalonica, Greece, after defeating leading rivals Bulgarian Veselin Topalov (2,793), Italian Fabiano Caruana (2,796) and Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk (2,755).
Meanwhile, wrestlers Livan and Reinieri Salas won a world silver at Budapest.
In collective sports, only women's basketball fared well, winning the FIBA Americas tournament for the first time since 2005 and scoring one of three regional spots at the 2014 World Cup in Turkey.
Baseball showed its deficiencies at the 3rd World Baseball Classics while volleyball is still far from recovering its past glory, due to the desertion or departure of major players.
The government's about-turn on a 50-year ban on professional sports may prove to be a great boon to national sports, as athletes, coaches and other sports figures begin to be better remunerated for their achievements.
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