Noslen Diaz and Jorge Luis Alayo
Havana, June 15 (ACN) - The Cuban male duo of Noslen Diaz-Jorge Luis Alayo is looking to advance this Wednesday to the phase of the 16 best duos of the World Beach Volleyball Championship, a competition that will conclude next June 19 in Rome, Italy.
According to the International Federation's website www.fivb.com, Diaz and Alayo will have a strong rival this Wednesday in the Italian pairing of Paolo Nicolai-Samuele Cottafava, silver medalists at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
The Caribbean youngsters, debutants in world competitions, finished the group stage in second place in section J, with two successes and one setback, tied with Germans Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wicklers.
In their first presentation on court, they lost to Australians Christopher McHugh and Paul Burnett, 0-2 (15-21, 18-21), but in the next two matches they defeated Teutons Nils and Clemens 2-1 (18-21, 23-21 and 15-10) and Uruguayans Hans Hannibal and Marco Cairus 2-1 (28-30,21-19 and 15-11), in that order.
Meanwhile, the Italians Nicolai and Cottafava were undefeated leaders in key K, with 2-0 victories over the Colombian duo of Murray-Rivas (21-12 and 21-15), the Thai duo of J. Surin-N. Banlue (21-10 and 21-10) and the American duo of Crabb Tr-Y Bourne (21-11, 21-19).
The Cuban women's duo of Leila Martinez-Ledianny Echeverria could not advance on Tuesday to the round of 32, losing 1-2 to the Swiss duo of Bobner and Vergé-Dépré F, with partials of 16-21, 21-13 and 12-15.
Thus, the Cubans said goodbye to the tournament in Rome, with a third place in group H, with a negative balance of one win and two setbacks, to which they added the one suffered against the Swiss.
There were 48 pairs in each gender (m and f), divided into 12 groups of four, and only the top two teams advanced to the next phase, together with the four best teams that finished in third place.
It was also established that the other eight pairs that finished third in their respective sections will play a direct elimination to complete the 32 that will be in the final round.
With these results, they will be placed in a draw depending on their previous performances, with all matches being do-or-die until they reach the final.
