Havana, January 3 (JIT) - The Cuban beach resort of Varadero will host a phase of the Norceca Beach Volleyball Circuit 2024, this time from March 28 to 31.
The important event includes 11 more stops from the opening in Aguascalientes, in March, until the end of October in Guatemala.
The first rounds will enter the Olympic qualification process, whose continental tournaments are scheduled for July 13-23 in the five geographical zones. The winners in each gender will win tickets.
The world championship in Tlaxcala 2023, in Mexico, awarded the first Olympic berths to the first teams, out of the 24 of each gender that will compete in the Olympic Games from July 27 to August 10.
The other route to qualify will be through the International Volleyball Federation ranking. The first 17 places by gender will secure quotas.
The list will take into account the 12 best participations of the duo from January 1 of last year to June 10, 2024, in the following events: the 2023 world championship, the pro tour (world circuit) in its elite, challenger and future levels, and the finals of the continental circuits that are recognized.
The phases of the Norceca 2024 circuit, after Aguascalientes (March 14-17) and Varadero (March 28-31), will continue in La Paz, Mexico (April 18-21), Cayman Islands (May 16-19), Punta Cana (June 6-9) and Hato Mayor (June 13-16) in the Dominican Republic, and Managua, Nicaragua (July 4-7).
Stops will be completed in the Dominican sands of Punta Cana (Aug. 22-25) and Puerto Plata (Aug. 28-Sept. 1), Jamaica (Sept. 19-22), Cayman Islands (Oct. 10-13) and Guatemala (Oct. 24-27).
Varadero hosted this event from 2011 to 2019, chain truncated in 2020 and 2021 by COVID-19. It resumed in 2022 and 2023 with the same high level of organization and participation of the best duos of the Norceca area.
In 2023, Cuba's top duo, Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo, closed the year on the top of the podium, winning the under-23 stage and the grand final at Juan Dolio beach in the Dominican Republic.This reinforced their performance in the season and affirmed their election as the best team in Cuban sport.
They added a bronze metal in Varadero, where their compatriots Daniel Martinez and Lazaro Portes won. They are candidates to obtain a ticket to Paris 2024 by the Olympic ranking.Otherwise, they are favorites to triumph in the final continental tournament of Norceca.
