HAVANA, August 7 -- The third University Baseball Championship began on Monday in Cuba, one day late because of heavy rain, with a program of five games in three stadiums in Cuban capital, Havana.

Cuba and Nicaragua had been scheduled to play a Group A match on Sunday night, after the opening ceremony, but Cuba's first game will now be a different Group A match: against Italy in the Latinoamericano Stadium. The Bahamas and Japan are also in Group A alongside Cuba, who are coached by veteran manager Lourdes Gourriel.

Group B is made up of the United States, Chinese Taipei, the Czech Republic, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Another highly-awaited game is the American College of Nicaragua-Japan game, in the Santiago Medero Stadium, known as La Changa; which also hosts the Puerto-Rico and Chinese Taipei match.

The Nelson Fernandez Stadium, in Havana's San Jose de las Lajas neighborhood, will host the following Monday matches: Mexico vs the Virgin Islands and the United States vs the Czech Republic.

Eleven teams, made up of players under 27, from Europe, Asia and the Americas have registered for the contest. The top two teams in each group win a place in the quarter-finals. From the quarter final on, the competition becomes a knockout competition. The semi-final is scheduled for Sunday August 13 and the final for Tuesday August 15.