The Cuban female couple made up of Leila Martínez and Lidianny Echevarría yielded this Friday to an American pair during their debut at the XIII World Championship of Beach volleyball which is celebrated in the city of Rome, according to official media reports on the island.
Martínez and Echevarría were overcome by the northerners Terese Clannon and Sarah Sponcil in two sets that closed with scores of 16-21, 19-21, in a duel corresponding to group H of the tournament, according to a review published on the specialized site Hit.
The Cuban representatives, occupying position 67 of the ranking of the world with 940 points, they premiered at the event facing superior and more experienced rivals, who rank 18th in the universal ranking thanks to their accumulated 3040 units, the media reports.
2022 Beach World Champs Rome Women’s Pools.
The 12 pools for the 1st phase of the FIVB #BeachVolleyball World Champs Rome were drawn on Tuesday to set the stage for an exciting competition in Rome, Italy ?? from June 10-19.
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The publication recalls that Clannon and Sponcil thanks to their previous participation in six other level competitions, in which they filed a third place and two ninth places among their best performances, the note details.
In contrast, the media outlet recalls that the Cubans only participated in three events, including the world circuit held in the Mexican city of Tlaxtaca, where they ranked 19th. They also participated in the Punta Cana pre-world championship, and in the Varadero phase of the Norceca circuitwinning both appointments.
underlines Hit that the statistics of the initial duel “were quite level”, although the Americans were better in attack (28-24) and service (3-1), while the Cubans imposed their block (2-4), but they made more mistakes of their own (9-6). In addition, Hechevarría was the top scorer of the game, with 21 points to her account.
The next match of the Antilleans will be next Sunday and against the Australians and Olympic runners-up Taliquia Clancy and Mariafe Artacho, bronze in the previous world championship and now in 14th place on the universal list, the publication states.
Two days later they will have more comfortable opponents, when they face the Egyptians Florida and Doaa, says the note.
Remember Hit that according to the competition system, only 28 of the 48 teams participating in the World Cup will advance directly to the next phase, including the occupants of the first two places in their respective groups.
They would be joined by the four best couples among those who rank third in each group. The other eight that finish in that position would have to play each other to maintain their aspirations of winning the tournament.
For his part, among the 48 men’s pairings, the Cuban made up of youngsters Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo will debut this Saturday in batch J against Australians Cristopher McHugh and Paul Burnett.
They will then continue their foray into the preliminary round of the tournament, also based in the Italian capital, facing the Germans Ehlers and Wickler and the Uruguayans Hannibal and Cairus, in that order, the source specifies.
