Right-handed Brian Chi nearly pitched a perfect game and Cuba beat Colombia 3-0 on Sunday to advance to the super round of the U-23 baseball World qualifying tournament in the American area.

With fastballs over 90 miles, Chi who plays for Havana Industriales back home retired the first 15 hitters in a row in his dominant performance at the Hector 'Chochi' Sosa stadium in Group B that has Tegucigalpa City as the venue.

Derwin Berbel broke the charm of the dream game by opening the top of the sixth inning with a double against the fence of the right field. From the opposite trench left-handed Enrique Pérez was a worthy rival of the Cuban hurlerafter limiting the offensive of the Cuban artillery to three runs and the same number of hits.

Closer Andy Rodríguez, who like Chi throws for Industriales in Cuban baseball, had some control problems, but he settled down after walking one batter to end up the last inning strking out the last two hitters to win his second save of the tournament. After its narrow victory against Panama in the debut, Colombia this Sunday, plus a crushing Guatemala on Saturday, the Cuban team has barely qualify for the final round in Managua, Nicaragua, that starts on Wednesday.

Before that, it must complete the qualifying round as undefeated when it faces Monday and Tuesday the less competitive squads of Argentina and Honduras.