Tough battle expected in men’s BVB event in Costa Rica

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, March 4, 2013 – The double-gender beach volleyball tournament of the X Central American Games gets underway on Monday.

While a close battle without a clear favorite is being anticipated in the men’s tournament, the story is a lot different in the women’s field where the home team of Ingrid Morales and Natalia Alfaro emerges as a heavyweight contender.

“We are thrilled to be playing at home,” Alfaro said. “We feel very proud about our responsibility of winning a gold medal for our fans.”

“Our goal is to win a medal always aiming to the top one,” Diana Romero of El Salvador stated at the end of the technical meeting on Sunday.

The home country will be represented in the men’s division by brothers Alexander and Gilberto Villegas, who have been regulars in the NORCECA Circuit for a the past few years.

“We have played many tournaments in other countries and now we are at home with our people,” Alexander said. “We are going to try our best.”

“The level of the competition has raised a lot, different from previous years when perhaps two countries were always playing for first place,” he added.

Nicaragua’s Henry Hernandez, who is participating for the third time in the Games, is confident about his chances playing with partner Gerald Umaña.

“I think we are going to battle for one of the medals,” Hernandez said. “We have a good preparation and the experience accumulated playing against teams from Cuba, United States and Canada in the NORCECA Circuit.”

Andy Leonardo and Luis Garcia of Guatemala have to be considered as one of the top contenders, especially after their solid participation in most of last year’s NORCECA event which included a bronze medal at home.

The women will compete under a double round-robin with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals where they will play first v fourth and second v third. 

The men will play a round-robin with the top two pairs getting direct tickets to the semifinals. The third placed team will play against the sixth while the team in fourth place will play the fifth in quarterfinals.

The preliminary enquiry and general technical meeting took place on Sunday under the presidency of Marta Centeno de Sajche, president of AFECAVOL. The meeting was also attended by Nelson Ramirez, NORCECA Delegate, Arnaldo Sanchez, Director of the Competition, and Miguel Ramirez, Referee Delegate.

Men’s teams:

Belize: Gustavo Morataya/Abimael Godoy; Costa Rica: Gilberto Villegas/Alexander Villegas; El Salvador: Carlos Escobar/David Vargas; Guatemala: Andy Leonardo/Luis García; Honduras: Wilfredo Vega/Douglas Izaguirre; Nicaragua: Henry Hernandez/Gerald Umaña.

Women’s teams:

Costa Rica: Ingrid Morales/Natalia Alfaro; El Salvador: Diana Romero/María Vargas; Guatemala: Ingrid López/Lourdes Ramírez; Honduras: Gina Flores/Martha Euceda; Nicaragua: Elia Torrez/Swan Mendoza.