Havana, April 21 (RHC) - The Cuban duo of Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo won their first medal in a tournament in the highest category of the Beach Volley ProTour, by winning bronze in the Elite 16, in Nayarit, Mexico.

Díaz and Alayo defeated the Germans Ehlers and Wickler 2-0 (21-17 and 21-18) in the dispute for third place, to add 1000 points in the Olympic ranking with a view to Paris-2024 and 14,000 USD in prize money.

In addition, they took revenge for the setback inflicted on them in the group stage by the Teutons, third in the ranking for Paris-2024 and virtually already qualified for the French capital.

With their performance in the sands of Nayarit, Francisco Alvarez Cutiño's students approach the Olympic classification, placing themselves just 100 units away from 17th place in the rankings, the last place to enter the Olympic event that way.

This Sunday is also their third medal in their first foray into the World ProTour, after two silvers in the Saquarema and Recife Challenges, both in Brazil, and the fourth time they have reached the semifinals.

The successes of beach volleyball are not new for Cuban volleyball, both men's and women's.

In the men's branch, in the nineties Cutiño and Juan Rosell Milanés won several medals at the highest level, including a title at the South Carolina Open, Puerto Rico, in 1995, and Sergio González and Nivaldo Díaz also managed to climb to the podium in tournaments at the highest level and at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games they reached an unprecedented fifth place.

Tamara Larrea and Dalixia Fernández also shined in the female sex, with several podiums in Grand Slam category tournaments in 2002 and 2003.