SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 21, 2022. Axel Gutiérrez from Nicaragua won the most valuable player award at the Men’s U23 Central American Championship held at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador.
“I think it’s an incredible feeling and it’s my first U23 tournament debuting with three awards, it’s incredible they gave me MVP thanks to God, it was voted on by the whole team, I thank them and God for this opportunity to shine for my beautiful country. ”, said Axel Gutierrez.
In addition, the Nicaraguan player won the awards as the top scorer and the best opponent.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 21, 2022. The Nicaraguan National Team is the new U23 Champion by leading the standings with five victories in the V Central American U23 Championship.
The first match of the last day of the tournament would end 3-1 with partial 25-23/25-16/20-25/25-21 in favor of Nicaragua against Costa Rica.
The Nicaraguans only needed to win a set in the match they would play on the last day against Costa Rica and they would do so after winning the first set 25-23.
Nicaragua would start the second set knowing they were Cup champions and with their adrenaline pumping, they would also leave this set with a wide 25-16 advantage.
Costa Rica, for its part, would not lower its arms, it would come out determined to extinguish the celebration of the champions in the third set, the Costa Ricans would be more compacted on the court and they would leave the third set 25-20, forcing the fourth set.
For this set, both teams would show their best weapons, in a very close set, which would end with Nicaragua winning 25-21.
With this result, Nicaragua confirms its supremacy in the 2022 tournament, winning undefeated and achieving the title of this category for the first time.
The best scorer for the new champions was Jefferson Cascante with 16 points. For his part in Costa Rica, the Captain, Josué Rojas got 25 points.
Nicaragua led attacks 51-50, as well as services 6-5. While both squads tied at 12 blocks.
Nicaragua achieved 26 points due to opponent errors and Costa Rica 18.
Arturo Solano, coach of Costa Rica: “Evaluating the tournament, it was a very difficult one for us, it was difficult for us to find a game rhythm, we found it in two games and in the last one we got the Tournament Champion and now we wait for results to see if we can enter the medal table”.
John Morales, Captain of Nicaragua: “We as players feel very proud to make Nicaragua champion for the first time in a Central American U23 tournament. Taking away Guatemala’s undefeated record after having been a four-time champion, now we are the new champions. It was hard, it wasn’t easy for us, we killed ourselves training every day, even in the tournament things were complicated for us but we always knew how to pull it off. We thank our coaches for the confidence they gave to each of the 14 who are here and nothing else to celebrate now and thank God”.
Jorge Mena, coach of Nicaragua: “Champion in this category for the first time in the history of Nicaragua, since we arrived in El Salvador, we came with a positive mentality that we came to win but we were going to go game by game and some things got complicated.” matches, but key games, against Guatemala the next day we had the best match of the tournament that we played against El Salvador, five dramatic sets and after the others it was to win them comfortably, in the end the last game with Costa Rica was complicated for us little but we knew that if we took a set from the Ticos we were going to be champions anyway, but we didn’t want to lose a game, thank God we got the result and we are champions. We dedicate this award to all the people who have supported us in Nicaragua.”
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 21, 2022. Guatemala obtains second place after beating Honduras 3-0 with partial 25-13/25-17/25-14 on the last day of competition at the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship, held at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador.
Guatemala could not get the five-time championship, but did not miss the podium against Honduras that finished the tournament in last place.
The Guatemalans were superior getting a wide lead in each set played. The first set ended 25-13, the second set 25-17 and the third set 24-14.
The 42-27 attack shows the clear strength of the Guatemalan team, who also dominated blocks 5-4 and services 3-2.
Guatemala got 25 points from opponent errors and committed only 11 errors.
Reider Lucas, coach of Guatemala: “The Guatemalan team came in second place, we leave happy but not satisfied, it was quite a demanding competition, the results were very even among all the teams, we were able to win four games, we lost one that was against the Nicaraguan Champion, they come with a very solid team, very mature for this category, to continue working we came with aspirations to see if we could win the five-time championship it was not possible but we leave happy we have a new generation, of the 12 athletes 10 are sub21, and we feel happy with the work done”.
Javier Lucero, side from Guatemala: “We got a good result, a second place, we fought as far as we could, we are very happy with my team, we know we could have given more but we are proud of the place we occupy and we continue fighting to win more tournaments ”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 21, 2022. The El Salvador National Team wins 3-0 against Panama with partial 26-24/25-19/25-18 and obtains the bronze of the V Men’s U23 Central American Cup.
El Salvador needed the victory to place itself in third place in the table and win the medal, and it did so in front of the effusive spectators who were present at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador.
In the first set the fight was very close, Panama would give war to the hosts, but they managed to win 26-24. The next two sets were dominated by El Salvador, winning them 25-19 and 25-18.
The best scorer tonight for El Salvador was Abner Cano with 20 points, followed by Diego Navarro with 12. For Panama the top scorer was Gherson Ortíz with 11 and Emanuel Pérez with 10.
The locals dominated attacking 38-35, blocking 11-4 and serving 3-1. El Salvador achieved 24 points due to opponent errors and Panama 20.
El Salvador manages to erase a streak of 14 years without obtaining a medal in the sub-23 category for his country.
Diego Navarro celebrates with Gustavo Ortiz, of El Salvador
Diego Guidos, Captain of El Salvador: “Now we have made history by winning a medal in the under 23 category, with yesterday’s match we were a little down because it made our chances for the podium difficult and later, after seeing the result of Costa Rica, we already knew that we were forced to win 3-0 but we did not give up, we knew we had to come to do it, we had the support of all our fans and the adrenaline was running at a thousand, all the boys gave their best and we achieved the goal ”
Gabriel Linares, coach of El Salvador: “We knew we were going to have a difficult tournament, the teams were prepared, we knew we had to play hard against Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, we prepared for that, unfortunately we were not given the results that we wanted we had the opportunity to achieve first place but it got out of hand with a loss against Costa Rica, but we managed to continue working without lowering our spirits and in the end we were given the result of a third place that since 2014 we have not a sub23 medal was given in El Salvador in the Central Americans”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 20, 2022. At the close of the fourth day of the V Central American U23 Championship, Guatemala won 3-2 against El Salvador in a vibrant match that ended with partials of 25-18/20-25 /21-25/25-17/15-11.
The first set went to Guatemala 25 to 18. For the second and third sets, the fans present at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador did not stop supporting their team and were the fuel for their team to take over these sets 25 -20 and 25-21.
In the fourth set, Guatemala came on strong, willing to extend the match to a fifth set, and that’s how it was, thanks to corner hitter Javier Lucero, the Guatemalans defeated the locals 25-17.
In the fifth and final set, Guatemala drowned out the scream of point to the fans who cheered the locals, beating them 15-11.
Guatemala had three outstanding players who together scored 55 points for their team: Javier Lucero with 21, José Pérez with 19 and Yeferson Zavala with 15.
Abner Cano of El Salvador was the spark for his team with 23 points, but it was not enough to win.
The Guatemalans were better attacking 61-45 and serving 10-4, while El Salvador led in blocking 11-9 committing 26 errors to Guatemala’s 36.
Guatemala will face Honduras at 5:00 pm and El Salvador will face Panama at 7:30 pm, on the last day of competition.
Javier Lucero, striker from Guatemala: “It was a very hard-fought match, the opposing players are very strong, we expected a better result, although we got the victory and we are still fighting for a medal”.
Rodrigo Mayora, center back of El Salvador: “We had a very complicated game, extensive due to rain problems, it was very complicated for us, the truth is that we were all tired from the previous games, but it was a very close game that we all tried to play the best possible, the rival was just as strong as us and the result could have been for anyone”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 20, 2022. The Nicaraguan National Team, with an undefeated streak of four games, is one step away from becoming the new Champion of the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship after beating its similar team from Honduras with a score of 3-0 and splits 25-20/25-23/25-19.
Nicaragua’s sextet outscored 43-35, blocked 9-3 and served 2-1, Honduras committed 21 errors to 23 of the winners.
The match would start very evenly with Honduras having the advantage, but Nicaragua made adjustments that ruined the 25-20 victory. For the second set, the margin was very narrow, it would be Nicaragua again the one that would leave the set 25-23.
The third set was very even, up to point 13 where Nicaragua would shoot up and win 25-19.
The top scorer for Nicaragua was Axel Gutiérrez with 19 points and for Honduras Kevin Herrera stood out with 16 points.
For this Sunday Nicaragua will face Costa Rica at 2:30 pm and Honduras will face Guatemala at 5:00 pm.
Jefferson Cascante, striker, Nicaragua: “Everything went very well for us in this match, what we worked on and we are one step away from winning the championship, God willing.”
David Arriola, point guard of Honduras: “It was a hard fought game, quite difficult, unfortunately Nicaragua outmaneuvered us tactically and we didn’t know how to make the necessary adjustments, we’re going to do a better job in the next game”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 20, 2022. Four hard-fought sets were played between Costa Rica and Panama in the first game of the day on Saturday, where the Costa Ricans won 3-1 with partial 25-19/23-25/25- 19/25-19 in the framework of the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship.
Costa Rica began by winning the game 25 to 19, with a seasoned Panama that would not give up.
For the second set, the Costa Ricans largely dominated until point 20 and Panama had a positive streak of points that would end up giving them victory in this set. The third and fourth set would be for Costa Rica with the same score 25-19.
Dowshel Mc Donald Smith scored 20 and Josué Rojas 16 for the Costa Rican team as the best scorers in the first game. While for Panama, Daniel Andrade got 14 points and Denzel Arboine 11.
Costa Rica dominated attacks 59-43, blocks 10-8, services 4-3. With 28 errors from Cota Rica for 25 from the Panamanians.
For Sunday, on the last day of competition Panama will face the hosts at 7:30pm and Costa Rica will face Nicaragua at 2:30pm.
Dowshel Mc Donald CRC against Christian Flores 11 and Kevin Acosta PAN
Deykel Smith, striker, Costa Rican National Team: “We knew it was going to be a very difficult game because Panama is a very strong team, we have to concentrate, we can’t lose here, we give everything on the pitch”.
Daniel Andrade, center back, Panama National Team: “Unfortunately we couldn’t win the match against Costa Rica, they were a very strong rival, we gave it our all, but we couldn’t get the victory. We have one game left against El Salvador, and we are going to try to win it and give it our all”.
SAN SALVADOR Day three of competition in the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship would end with an electrifying encounter between the locals, El Salvador and Nicaragua, who fought to maintain their undefeated record. With partials 25-23/23-25/22-25/25-19/15-13, the Nicaraguans won the match with a score of 3-2.
The first set favored Nicaragua 25-23, with the same number of points, but in favor of El Salvador the second set ended, tying the match 1-1.
The third set was for the locals 25-22, the team did not stop listening to the screams of the fans who came to support them at the Palacio de los Deportes in San Salvador.
The fourth set would be for the Nicaraguans 25-19, thus extending to a fifth and final set that would also favor them 15-13, thus achieving their third consecutive victory.
The best scorer for Nicaragua was Axel Gutiérrez with 28 points, also the top scorer of the date, for El Salvador Abner Cano scored 25 points for his team. Diego Navarro (ESA) and Jefferson Cascante (NIC) each had 17 points for their teams.
Attacks were dominated by Nicaragua 66 to 58, both teams finished equal in blocks 11-11 as well as errors made 31 each, while services were predominant for El Salvador 5 to 2.
For this Saturday, Nicaragua will play Honduras at 5:00 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m. El Salvador will play against Guatemala.
Axel Gutierrez of Nicaragua celebrates against El Salvador
Axel Gutiérrez, opposite of Nicaragua: “Today we played a well-fought game with the El Salvador team, they are home, an incredible supporter that supports them to the full, we were losing 2-1, tears, lawsuits, we knew how to get the game out of everything ”.
Abner Cano, winger from El Salvador: “We had a very difficult game with the Nicaraguan team, we thought we could win, our goal was to win but we couldn’t do it, we just have to play with our heads held high and beat the other countries”.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 19, 2022. The V U23 Central American Championship experienced one of the most exciting matches this Friday when Honduras defeated Costa Rica with a score of 3-2 and partials of 27-25/16-25. /22-25/27-25/16-14.
The two teams came thirsty for victory, Honduras took the first set 27-25, this would be the harbinger of the next four sets, where the teams fought one by one for each point.
For the next set, Costa Rica tied the match 1-1, with an eight-point lead, the set ended 25-16. The third set ended 25-22 for the Costa Ricans who with this score (2-1) were one set away from leaving the match. Honduras was not willing and would fight tirelessly to get extended until the fifth set.
The fourth set was one of the closest, the teams disputed the point to point, Honduras would leave the set 27-25, but before that Costa Rica would drown the cry from point to set four times.
For the final set the constant was the tie on the scoreboard, neither of the two teams wanted to miss the victory that finally favored Honduras, 16-14.
Honduras was forceful in spikes 68-55 and Costa Rica dominated blocks 14-7 and aces 4-1. Costa Rica committed 32 errors and Honduras 41.
Josué Rojas with 26 points for Costa Rica and Kevin Herrera with 25 for Honduras added 51 points in the match, as the top scorers in the match.
On Saturday, Costa Rica will face Panama at 2:30 pm and Honduras will face Nicaragua at 5:00 pm.
José Larios, setter of Honduras: “I want to thank God for allowing us this victory in the game, the rival that was Costa Rica, was up to the task as we expected, a very close game, very difficult, we fought until the end, and as My coach told us, we showed that we catrachos have grit and we fight until this is over and I think we showed it on the court”.
Josué Rojas, Captain of Costa Rica: “We had a quite complicated match against Honduras, a rival that gave us a fight, a fight, and the match was quite interesting, we fought until the end, I managed to be the top point scorer, we did what we could.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 19, 2022. In the first game of the third day of competition of the V Men’s U23 Central American Championship, the Guatemalan team defeated Panama in a fierce match that ended 3-2 with partials of 18-25. /21-25/25-21/25-17/15-04.
Panama dominated the entire first set, winning with a difference of seven points, 25-18. For the second set, Guatemala dominated until point 20, but Panama had two point streaks in favor, one of nine and one of six that would give them the victory of the second set 25-21.
For the third set, Guatemala showed its champion claw and beat the Panamanians 25-21. Triumph that would force the match to be extended to two more sets.
Guatemala got 25 points out of 17 in the fourth set and overwhelmingly left the fifth set with a partial of 15-04 and therefore got the victory.
Guatemala dominated in services 8-2, attacks were also theirs 62-51 and blocks 12 to 9. The Guatemalans made more errors than their opponent, in total 30 to 22.
The top scorer of the match for Guatemala with 19 points was Jason Hernández, followed by Javier Lucero with 18. For the Panama National Team, Gherson Ortiz with 20, followed by Denzel Arboine with 16, as the top scorers for their team.
For this Saturday the 20th at 2:30 p.m. Panama will face Costa Rica and at 7:30 p.m. Guatemala will face El Salvador.
Daniel Ralón, point guard of the Guatemalan National Team: “It was a game that was difficult for us at the beginning, but we knew how to fix our pieces, we made some changes in the team and we achieved victory, I am very grateful to my team for knowing how to oppose and knowing row against the water and victory was achieved.
Denzel Arboine, winger of the Panama team: “A very difficult game, Guatemala is a team with a lot of experience, a good physique, a lot of histamine, it is a team to respect, it was a good game for us that we did not have the necessary time to adapt more As a team, since there are new players, we were very pleased that everyone made an effort, they lost their nerve, we lost 3-2 but I am happy for the work done by my team”
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