Cuba’s Men Take Sweet Revenge

PUERTO ARISTA, Chiapas, May 20, 2012 - Cuba’s Karrel Piña and Sergio Gonzalez beat Mexico’s Juan Virgen and Aldo Miramontes after a shaky start for the Cuban team. In the end, the islanders won the first place in three sets (25-27, 21-15, 15-11) during this NORCECA Championship held in Puerto Arista, Chiapas.

For the Cuban men, this victory felt like revenge after having been overpowered by Mexico in three sets at the last Pan American Games.

“This was our revenge. Our loss at the Pan American Games hurt. It also was a sudden death match and now, I am pleased with the results,” said Piña just a few moments before the awards ceremony.

The first set was the longest of the tournament as it went up to 27 points for the winning team; this reflects how ferocious the fight for the gold really was.

“Our defense was a key in order to put together our counterattack since my partner (Piña) and I understood each other very well through a system of signals that we have adopted. We were able to anticipate what they (the Mexican players) wanted to do,” said Gonzalez who was being
swarmed by fans.

In the semifinal, the Cuban team had no problems overcoming the Dominican Republic, who finished in fourth place. Ricardo Galindo and Juan Revuelta of  Mexico-2 defeated the Dominican Republic’s duo of Luis Adames and German Recio in the match for the bronze in three grueling sets (18-21, 21-15, 15-12) for both teams.

Men’s Results of Sunday: Semifinals: MEX 1 d. MEX 2 (21-7, 21-8), CUB d. DOM (21-10, 21-16), Bronze Medal: MEX 2 d. DOM (18-21, 21-15, 15-12). Gold Medal: CUB d. MEX (25-27, 21-15, 15-11).