Cubans Maylen Deliz and Leila Martínez win two in a row

Cubans Maylen Deliz and Leila Martínez win two in a row

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, April 28, 2019. – Cuban Maylen Deliz and Leila Martínez are maintaining their momentum at the NORCECA Beach Tour as they won their second gold medal in a row, prevailing to USA Cayman Islands title match on Sunday.

The Cuban pair earned their back to back gold medal of the season beating United States again, but different team. This time they beat Brittany Hochevar and Carly Wopat number seed in the tournament, with a close 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) while recovering from a four point deficit (11-16) in the second.

For Maylen this opponent was stronger even if it wasn’t a tie-breaker like last week “it was much more demanding but we as Cubans we always play with all our energy, even coming from behind. It seemed like we were going to lose the second set but we fought even harder”.

On the other hand, Leila indicated “we never gave up, our defense improved one hundred percent and we saw difficulties with the floating serves so we decided to keep calm; this time the k2 (defense-block) was the key in succeeding today”.

Según Maylen este rival fue más fuerte a pesar de que no se extendió a un desempate como la semana pasada “si hubo mucha exigencia pero como cubanas siempre vamos a entrar con toda nuestra energía, aunque estemos abajo. El segundo set parecía perdido pero luchamos con todo”.

Leila por su lado, indicó “no nos rendimos, hoy nuestra defensa mejoró muchísimo y nos dimos cuenta que había problemas en el servicio flotado por lo que decidimos tranquilizarnos; esta vez el k2 (defensa-bloqueo) fue lo que nos dio el éxito esta vez”.

Deliz and Martínez arrived into the title match defeating Mexico’s Zaira Orellana /Martha Revuelta 2-0(21-15, 21-13) in semifinals, while Brittany Hochevar and Carly Wopat won the all USA semifinal match to Falyn Fonoimoana and Nicolette Martin 2-0 (21-19, 21-17).

Falyn Fonoimoana and Nicolette Martin won their second bronze medal in a row defeating Mexican Orellana/Revuelta 2-0 (21-14, 21-18); last weekend at the season opening in Aguascalientes they also took the bronze.

Final Standings: 1. Maylen Deliz/Leila Martinez (CUB); 2. Brittany Hochevar/Carly Wopat (USA-A); 3. Falyn Fonoimoana/Nicolette Martin (USA-B); 4. Zaira Orellana/Martha Revuelta (MEX); 5. May Devon/ Rian Lenarduzzi (CAN-B); 6. Valeria Valenciana/Marcela Araya (CRC); 7. Kathya Vásquez/Ma. Fernanda Vásquez (ESA); 8. Swan Mendoza/Elia Machado 9. Jessica Wolfenden/ Stefania Gandolfi (CAY-B); 10. Paola Alvarado/Estefanie Bethancourt (GUA); 11. Angjeny Tolentino/Christine Anthony (CUR); 12. Anna Dunn-Suen/Caleigh Cruickshank (CAN-A); 13. Marissa Harrison /Ileann Powery (CAY-A); 14. Melanie Valenciana/Jade Vitt (ISV-A); 15. Brenda Allen/Shanicia Dyer (SKN); 16. La-Teisha Joseph/Malika Davidson (TTO); 17. Amber Bennett /Lisa Dietrich Lisa (ISV-B); 18. Petal Smith/Kai Wright (JAM).

Women results Sunday:

Gold Medal: CUBA d USA-A 2-0 (21-18, 21-19); Bronze Medal: USA-B d MEX 2-0 (21-14, 21-18); Semifinals: USA-A d USA-B 2-0 (21-19, 21-17); CUB d MEX 2-0 (21-15, 21-13); 5-6 CAN d CRC; 7-8 ESA d NCA 2-1 (21-14, 14-21, 15-11); Positions 5-9: CAN-B d NCA 2-0 (21-16, 21-17); CRC d ESA 2-1 (21-14, 22-20, 15-10).