The Cuban teams lost their respective matches this Friday against the Czech Republic and Belgium at the U-21 Men’s World Championship in China and the Senior Women’s World Championship in Thailand.
The junior team managed to rally and extend the challenge to a tiebreak, but the Czechs sealed the victory with scores of 18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 24-26, and 15-9. The highlight of the match was the superb performance of our opposite number, Daniel Martínez.
Martínez not only led the scorer, but also scored an astronomical 41 points, 33 of which came from his effective attack and 8 from direct aces, which, although not a record for the category, must be close.
Only cornerback Carlos Pereira (14 points) and middle blocker José Ángel Morejón (11) followed the Matanzas giant with double digits. Two others failed to surpass four points.
On the opposing court, opposite Tomas Brichta tried to match the Cuban and ended up with 28 (25 kills and 8 aces). However, he had three teammates who scored double figures, and 10 of the Czech team’s 14 blocks, compared to only five for the Cubans.
Cuba had better numbers in attacks (64-54) and serves (8-4), but they outnumbered their own errors (36-30).
With a record of one win (against Bulgaria yesterday) and one loss, the Cubans will face Japan this Saturday in Jiangmen in Group C.
At the 2025 Women’s Volleyball World Championship in Thailand, the Cuban team fell victim to their Belgian counterparts by scores of 23-25, 14-25, and 11-25.
The Europeans imposed their effective blocking (14-2) and superior attack (42-34), and committed fewer unforced errors (9-16). Only in aces was there no difference (3-3).
None of the Caribbean players managed to reach double figures. The top scorers were outside hitters Claudia Tarín and Eviliana Martínez, both with eight kills.
They were followed by opposite hitter Dezirett Madan (7/6-0-1) and middle blockers Dayana Martínez (6/4-0-2) and Laura Suárez (6/5-1-0), and setter Gretel Moreno (3 A).
Their next match will be on Sunday, against their toughest rival in Group B, Italy, the Olympic champion and champion of the last two editions of the Nations League.
Source: JIT
