Cuba vs. Costa Rica today at U23 men's volleyball Pan American Cup

 HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 16 (ACN) Cuban men's team will face Costa Rica today in the first day of the 9th edition of the U23 Pan American Volleyball Cup, to be held at the Anthony Nesty Sporthal in Paramaribo, Suriname, where nine teams will be in action until September 21 in two qualifying groups.

Cuba is in section A along with Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, while in section B are Guatemala, Peru, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the host Suriname.

According to the schedule announced by the organizers, Cuba will debut against Costa Rica early in a day that includes the matches Peru-Guatemala, Mexico-Dominican Republic and Suriname-St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in that order.

The next rivals for Jesus Cruz's disciples will be the Dominicans, on the 17th, and the Mexicans, on the 18th, closing date of the group phase that will be played by the round-robin system and the first two places will advance directly to the semifinals.

Cuba and the Dominican Republic finished in first and second place, respectively, in the 2023 edition of the U23 Pan American Cup, and obtained their tickets for the Junior Pan American Games to be held in Asuncion, Paraguay in 2025, so the two places at stake will be disputed among the rest of the contestants from the North, Central American and Caribbean (Norceca) teams.

The tournament will award two direct places to the top-ranked Norceca teams in the final standings, without taking into account those teams that already have a place.

Cuba has won the event three times since its inception in 2012, beating Mexico in 2014 and 2018, and the Dominican Republic in 2023, while Argentina, Brazil and Mexico each have a gold medal.