SANTIAGO, Chile, October 24, 2023. – Hagen Smith/Logan Webber of the United States and JorgeAlayo/Noslen Díaz of Cuba, the current champions Marco Grimalt/Esteban Grimalt of Chile, and George/Andre of Brazil, will feature in the Men’s Beach Volleyball semifinals oat the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago.
Hagen Smith and Logan Webber of the United States won 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) against Juan Virgen and Miguel Sarabia of Mexico. Juan Virgen won’t be able to repeat the silver medal he earned four years ago in Lima, Peru.
Meanwhile, Jorge Alayo/Noslen Diaz of Cuba performed at a high level, prevailing 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) against Dany León/Marcos Tenorio of Ecuador.
George/Andre of Brazil won an exciting 2-1 (21-17, 15-21, 17-15) match against Nicolás and Tomás Capogrosso of Argentina. It was an intense game, with the Capogrosso brothers making things difficult for George/Andre in a battle of strong offense and good defense from Tomás and solid blocking by Nicolás.
The current champions, cousins Marco and Esteban Grimalt of Chile, won 2-0 (23-21, 21-18) against Jake MacNeil and Williams Russell of Canada, after a highly contested match,
especially in the first set, with Russell’s blocks on one side and Marco on the other.
Games on Wednesday, October 26:
Classification 5/8:
Leon/Marcos (ECU) vs Sarabia/Virgen (MEX)
MacNeil/Russell (CAN) vs Capogross N./Capogrosso T (ARG)
For 11th place: Giuliano/Gonzalo (PAR) vs Salvatierra/Calvo (BOL).
For 9th place: Hannibal/Llambías (URU) vs Noriega/Murray (COL);
Semifinals
Diaz/Alayo (CUB) vs Smith/Webber (USA)
Grimalt M./Grimalt E. (CHI) vs George/Andre (BRA)
Wednesday’s results
Position 13/14
Mora/López (NCA) 2-1 (24-26, 21-14, 15-7) Guatemala/Flores (ESA)
Position 15/16
D. Dyner/Varela (CRC) 0-2 (15-21, 12-21) Blanco/García GUA
Classification 9-12
Salvatierra/Calvo (BOL) 1-2 (21-19, 15-21, 10-15) Noriega/Murray (COL)
Hannibal/Llambías (URU) 2-1 (21-13, 18-21, 15-10) Giuliano/Gonzalo (PAR)
Quarterfinals
Smith/Webber (USA) 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) Sarabia/Virgen (MEX)
Díaz/Alayo (CUB) 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) León/Marcos (ECU)
Capogrosso N./Capogrosso T (ARG) 1-2 (17-21, 21-15, 15-17) George/André (BRA)
Grimalt M./Grimalt E. (CHI) 2-0 (23-21, 21-18) MacNeil/Russell (CAN)