Successful debut of Cuban beach volleyball duo at Xiamen challenger

HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 26 (ACN) Cuban duo Noslen Diaz and Jorge Luis Alayo had a successful debut in Group A of the main draw of the World Pro Tour Beach Volleyball Challenger Tournament, based in Xiamen, China, by defeating 2-1 and 2-0 pairs from France and Brazil, in that order.

According to the International Federation website www.fivb.com, Francisco Alvarez Cutiño's disciples beat the French Calvin and Quincy last night with a score of 21-16, 16-21 and 15-10, and today they defeated the Brazilians Pedro Solbert and Guto, by no-show.

Important victories that keep them adding points on their way up in the world ranking (WR) towards the qualification for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

According to the official statistics of Thursday's victory over the French, Cuba was better in blocking, six points to three and their own errors that gave away points to their opponents (10-17), while France was ahead in attack (31-29) and service (3-0).

Individually, Calvin was the top scorer of the match with 26 points, 24 in attack, one in blocking and one in service, followed by Alayo (24/18-6-0), Diaz (11/11-0-0) and Quincy (11/7-2-2).

Previously, Cubans won two silver medals and a fourth place in the World Pro Tour Challenger in Recife and Saquarema, both in Brazil, and in Guadalajara, Mexico, respectively, results to which they added the historic bronze medal obtained in the Elite 16 of the World Pro Tour in Tepic, Mexico.