VARADERO, Cuba, May 3, 2025.- Both Cuban duos, along with teams from Nicaragua and Puerto Rico, secured their spots in the men’s semifinal round of the 2025 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour, taking place on the courts near the Barceló Arenas Blancas Hotel.
The highest-ranked team in the tournament, Cubans Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo, will face fellow countrymen Damián Gómez and Eblis Veranes, young, energetic players who have made remarkable progress since their debut last year at this same venue.
The other semifinal will feature Nicaragua’s Rubén Mora and Dany López against Puerto Rico’s Arnaldo Y. Torres and Cristian Encarnación.
For Olympians Díaz and Alayo, this semifinal is particularly meaningful, as they have yet to claim the top spot on the podium in the last two Varadero editions, settling for bronze in 2023 and silver last year.
In Saturday’s quarterfinals, Díaz and Alayo dominated Americans Charles Siragusa and Dexter Campbell, cruising to a convincing 2-0 victory with scores of 21-7 and 21-11.
Gómez and Veranes had a tougher challenge in the first set but found their rhythm in the second, defeating U.S. Virgin Islands’ Williams Clements and Devin Van Siclen 2-0 (28-26, 21-13).
Meanwhile, Puerto Ricans Torres and Encarnación overcame a rough second set to edge Americans Troy Field and Ryan Wilcox in three sets (21-16, 14-21, 15-10).
The final ticket to the penultimate round went to Nicaragua’s Mora and López, who won the tournament’s longest and most hard-fought match so far. After one hour and eight minutes, they triumphed over Canadians Steven Abrams and Tynan Gannett in three sets (22-24, 28-26, 15-12).
Day’s Results (pool-play):
A: Diaz/Alayo (CUB) a Sarabia/Osuna (MEX) 2-0 (21-15, 21-9) y a De Jesús/Maldonado (DOM) 2-0 (21-16, 21-12), Field/Wilcox (USA) a Sarabia/Osuna (MEX) 2-0 (21-17, 21-14), Esyenser/Juliangel (VEN) a De Jesus/Maldonado (DOM) 2-0 (21-16, 21-21)
B: Torres/Encarnación (PUR) a Licht/de Greeff (CAN) 2-0 (21-15, 21-19), Blanco/García (GUA) a Siragusa/Campbell (USA) 2-0 (24-22, 24-22), Lares/Carlos Andrés (MEX) a Blanco/Garcia (GUA) 2-0 (21-17, 21-13), Siragusa/Campbell (USA) a Torres/Encarnación (PUR) 2-1 (21-19, 17-21, 15-8)
C: Gómez/Veranes (CUB) a Enile/Theodore (TTO) 2-0 (21-18, 21-6), Abrams/Gannett (CAN) a Solano/Coronado (CRC) 2-0 (21-9, 21-17), Abrams/Gannett (CAN) a Enile/Theodore (TTO) 2-0 (21-11, 21-10)
D: Clements/Van Siclen (ISV) a Gálvez/Reyes (HON) 2-0 (21-17, 21-14), Mora/López (NCA) a Clements/Van Siclen (ISV) 2-0 (21-18, 25-23), Gálvez/Reyes (HON) a Dwarkasing/Kasdi (SUR) 2-1 (21-17, 18-21, 15-7)
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