Havana, March 27 (ACN) - Cuba will seek to improve its position in the world ranking (RM) for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the Saquarema Beach Volleyball World Pro Tour Challenge, to be held from Thursday until Sunday in that Brazilian city. 

After climbing places in the RM in a similar tournament, after winning the silver medal in Recife, also in that South American country, the duo of Noslen Diaz and Jorge Luis Alayo will try to repeat the podium and keep alive the possibility of qualifying for the Parisian multisport event.

Diaz and Alayo, led by coach Francisco Alvarez Cutiño, will start their action in the main draw of 16 as in Recife and as twenty-sixth in the RM -they climbed 5 steps with the silver- and fifth in the list of North, Central America and the Caribbean (Norceca), surpassed by four teams from the United States.

Alvarez Cutiño's disciples are ahead of representatives from Norway (2), Switzerland, Czech Republic, United States (4), Brazil (4), Italy (2), Germany, Qatar, Netherlands (3), Poland (2), Australia, Spain, Austria (2).         

According to the site of the International Federation and that of the Saquarema event, from Thursday 71 duos will compete, with the largest presence of the hosts (17) and the United States (5).

According to the schedule, the couple from the largest of the Antilles will also be from April 11 in the Challenge of Guadalajara, and a week later in a more rigorous commitment, the Elite 16 of Tepic, in which the main pairs of the world should participate with an eye on the City of Light.

As established, the RM will close on June 9 and will distribute 17 Olympic places for the best-placed pairs with the requirement of having at least 12 of the scoring events, but discounting the champions of the world, one from France -because of its condition of venue- and those of the countries that repeat two other countries with privileged positions in the RM.

The Cubans, still distant -7- from that mandatory number -10-, in addition to the RM, have the option of getting a ticket to the Norceca Pre-Olympic, a tournament that will take place from June 19 to 24 in the Mexican city of Tlaxcala, where they would have to climb to the top of the podium to achieve it.