Gold and bronze for Cuban men's duos in 2nd phase of the Norceca Beach Volleyball Circuit

HAVANA, Cuba, May 15 (ACN) Cuba's duos A and B Lazaro Portes-Daniel Martinez and Noslen Diaz-Jorge Luis Alayo won the gold and bronze medals, in that order, at the closing of the second phase of the Norceca Beach Volleyball Circuit 2023, held at the Barcelo Arenas Blancas hotel.

According to the North, Central America and Caribbean (Norceca) website www.norceca.net, the Portes-Martinez duo defeated the United States Campo-Turker team 2-1 (21-18, 19-21 and 15-10) in the final, while Diaz-Alayo defeated Mexico's Barajas-Cruz team 2-0 (21-16 and 21-18) for the bronze medal.

Portes and Martinez, who accumulated 320 points for the Norceca ranking, advanced to the title discussion by beating their teammates Diaz and Alayo (256 points), 2-0 (21-14 and 21-18) in the semifinals.

The women's pairs did not have the same luck, as they finished sixth and eighth, with setbacks by Yenifer Rivera-Amanda (192 points) and Nahomi Charlot-Maíkelin Drik (168 points), respectively, in the fight for fifth and seventh places.

Rivera and Amanda were outplayed in the fifth spot 0-2 (6-21, 14-21) by the Puerto Rican duo Navas-Gonzalez, while in the seventh spot Charlot and Drig lost 1-2 (12-21, 21-15, 9-15) to the Dominican Republic duo Ramirez-Payano.

The Norceca circuit is scoring for the North, Central American and Caribbean Confederation ranking, with the aim of qualifying for the Pan American Games of Santiago 2023.