Cuba vs. El Salvador and US in circuit of beach volleyball

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 9 (ACN) The Cuban duos of Noslen Diaz-Jorge Luis Alayo, and Dayani Zerquera-Nahomi Charlot will debut today in the 8th and final phase of the North, Central America and Caribbean Circuit (Norceca) of beach volleyball, to be held until Sunday in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.    

The main Cuban pair of Diaz-Olayo will open their action Friday against the Salvadoran team of Franklin Flores-Armando Guatemala, while the debutant pair of Zerguera-Charlot will play against the US pair of Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil.

The experienced Cubans appear among the great favorites to advance from Group B to the final of the competition, the first stage towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, since it is the beginning of the Olympic qualification system of this sport that consists of a series of three Norceca Tour Finals (2022, 2023 and 2024).

Diaz and Alayo stand out for their results this year, with the 17th place in the world championship in Rome, Italy, the gold, silver and bronze medals in Aguascalientes, Punta Cana and Varadero of the North, Central America and the Caribbean (Norceca) circuit, and the 1st Central American and Caribbean Sea and Beach Games in Santa Marta, in that order.

For their part, the young Zerguera, 23, and Charlot, 17, placed in section A, are trying to become the leading duo of Cuba's national preselection.

Along with the Cubans, the duos of Canada and the Virgin Islands are in the B bracket, while the A bracket is formed by the United States, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Virgin Islands, and the C bracket by Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Costa Rica. 

The other two groups of the women's tournament are made up of the US, Canadians, Salvadorans and Virgin Islanders (B) and the US, Puerto Ricans, Nicaraguans and Guatemalans.