2023-10-09 13:39:00
Volleyball fans eagerly await the arrival of good news, but this Sunday did not give us what we expected, not even one of lime and another of sand, since both the indoor sextet and the beach duo fell short of their goals.
They say that before cement was used, bricks and stones were fixed with mortar, made with a shovelful of lime (the most expensive and noblest material) and another of sand (the most abundant and least valuable). Hence the aforementioned saying… and only the sand for ours.
It is true that Cuba beat Iran (3-2 sets) in the pre-Olympic tournament based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the opposite left-hander Jesús Herrera (from Las Cañas, Artemisa) led the Caribbean offensive with 21 points: 16 in attack , three in blocking and two in service. However, the team failed to qualify for the Paris 2024 Games.
On the previous day, they had even defeated the current world champion, Italy, with scores of 25-22, 21-25, 27-25 and 29-27, in one of the most outstanding presentations in recent years.
Losing to Germany and Brazil, on both occasions by 3-1, made the victories against Ukraine, Czech Republic, Qatar, Italy and Iran useless, because third place does not receive a ticket to the City of Light. Precisely, Teutons and South Americans stood out in the fight.
It remains to aspire to the tickets that will be distributed according to the ranking, at the close of the regular phase of the Nations League in 2024, if the team is ranked above Italy, Argentina, Slovenia or Serbia.
Meanwhile, on the Plaza de Toros court in Tlaxcala, Mexico, Noslen Díaz from Artemis and Jorge Luis Alayo from Villa Clara lost their Sunday match against Brazil 1-2, in group I of the Beach Volleyball World Championship.
Our duo had beaten the pair from the Czech Republic 2-1 and, at the close of this print edition, faced the hosts at the close of the group stage.
The first two from each of the eight groups and the four best third parties will advance to the round of 32. The other couples in third place will play a “lucky losers” round, to complete the last four places. From then on, the single elimination system governs.
#Volleyball #lime #sand