Havana, September 25 (RHC) – Cubans Jorge Luis Alayo and Noslen Díaz opened with a sensational 2-1 victory over Norwegians Hendrik Nikolai Mol and Mathías Berntsen in the Elite 16 tournament in Rio de Janeiro of the 2025 Beach Volleyball World Pro Tour.
In Group F, the outcome resulted in close matches (19-21, 21-18, 15-13), with the Cubans superior in attacks (36-29), their opponents slightly better in blocking (9-10), and equal in serving (2-2). Alayo and Díaz committed more unforced errors (11-8).
Individually, Alayo led the scorers with 34 points (23 attacks-9 blocks-2 aces), and his partner supported the victory with 13 kills.
For his part, Mol accumulated 29 points (18-10-1) and Berntsen 12 (11-0-1).
This Thursday, in the final round of the preliminaries, the Cubans will face another excellent duo, Brazilians Evandro Goncalves and Arthur Lanci, who defeated Eylon Elazar and Kevin Cuzmiciov of Israel 2-0 (21-19, 21-17).
The hosts have dominated all three duels against the Caribbean team: in 2023 by 2-1 in the Mexican city of Apizaco, and in 2024 twice with back-to-back sets in phases held in Recife, Brazil, and Guadalajara, Mexico.
Francisco Álvarez Cutiño’s students are preparing for the World Championships in Adelaide, Australia, which will take place from November 14 to 23.
