Dutch shock Cuba in baseball classic

The Netherlands beat Cuba 6-2 at the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo on Friday to move a step closer to reaching the final stage for the first time.

‘This was a huge win for us,’ the Dutch manager Hensley Meulens told news agency AP. ‘We had a plan to attack and the guys executed it well. Jonathan [Schoop] had a big game with a three-run homer and another run in the eighth. The guys hit the ball well.’

The Dutch team will next meet two-time defending champions Japan or Taiwan to reach a final place.

In 2011, the Netherlands beat Cuba 2-1 to win the baseball World Cup in Panama.

Baseball is known as honkball in Dutch.

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