Cuban U23 Volleyball Team (m)

Havana, Sep 12 (ACN) The Cuban men's team will compete in the ninth edition of the U23 Pan American Volleyball Cup, to be held at the Anthony Nesty Sporthal in Paramaribo, Suriname, where nine teams will be in action from September 16 to 21 in two qualifying groups.

According to the website www.norceca.net, the Cubans are in section A along with Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, while in B are Guatemala, Peru, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the host Suriname.

According to the schedule announced by the organizers, the largest of the Antilles will make its debut on the 16th against Costa Rica at the beginning of a day that includes the matches Peru-Guatemala, Mexico-Dominican Republic and Suriname-St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in that order.

Cuba's next opponents will be the Dominicans on the 17th and the Mexicans on the 18th, the closing date of the group stage, which will be played on a round-robin basis with the first two places advancing directly to the semifinals.

Also note that the Cubans and Dominicans finished in first and second place, respectively, in the 2023 edition of the U23 Pan American Cup, and earned their tickets to the Junior Pan American Games to be held in Asuncion, Paraguay in 2025.

The tournament will distribute two direct places to the teams from North, Central America and the Caribbean (Norceca) best placed in the final standings, without taking into account those who already have a place.

Cuba has won the event three times since its inception in 2012, beating Mexico in 2014 and 2018, and the Dominican Republic in 2023, while Argentina, Brazil and Mexico each have a gold medal.