Cubans Remain Undefeated in Hamburg Beach Volleyball

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 28 (ACN) Cuba's Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo defeated the Czech world champions Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner to finish undefeated in Group E of the Elite tournament of the 2025 World Beach Volleyball Pro Tour, taking place in the German city of Hamburg.

The Antilleans won 2-0 (21-19, 27-25), a tight match as has characterized the previous four clashes between the two duos since they first met in 2023 in Apizaco, Mexico.

Alayo was the top scorer with 27 points (24 attacks, 2 blocks, 2 aces) and his partner added 13 from spikes. Schweiner was the most productive for the rivals with 24 (20-4-0) and Perusic added 12 (9-0-3).

Díaz Amaro and Alayo Moliner, with less than two years as a pair, beat the Europeans 2-1 (21-17, 15-21, 15-9) in 2023, perhaps without imagining that shortly after their victims would become world champions.

In 2024, they split honors with a Cuban success in Tepic, Mexico 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) and a loss in Stare Jablonki, Poland, in three sets (17-21, 21-17, 11-15).

Their fourth duel took place this year again in Mexico, where the Antilleans eliminated the Czechs in the quarter-finals 2-1 (16-21, 21-14, 15-11) at their best moment, when in the Quintana Roo Elite 16 they realized the dream of conquering the gold medal.

With this fourth success over Perusic and Schweiner, the students of Francisco Álvarez Cutiño, undefeated, are on their way to conquering other podiums in a single Pro Tour season as they did in 2024, where they won three silver medals and one bronze.

After six stages this summer in the 2025 Russian League, the Antillean pair reinserted themselves into the important competition and started on Wednesday in their pool with a win over Ruben Penninga and Matthew Immers by a 2-0 sweep (24-22, 21-14).

With two wins, the Cubans do not play this Friday, a day scheduled only for the round of 18 challenges; they return on Saturday when the round of 12 and the quarter-finals will take place, while Sunday is the date for the semi-finals and the matches for the bronze and gold medals, in that order.