Alayo and Diaz Won Silver in Stare Jablonki and are in Olympic Qualification Zone

STARE JABLONKI, Poland June 2, 2024.- Cubans Jorge Alayo and Noslen Díaz won the silver medal on Sunday, at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Stare Jablonki Challenge in Poland, which put them in Olympic Qualification Zone.

World champions Czech Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner beat Cuban sensations Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz 2-1 (21-17, 17-21, 15-11) to secure the title.

Stare Jablonki Challenge – Final Results

Alayo and Diaz also went to three sets but won 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 15-10) to Caprogosso siblings of Argentina.

The results of the Stare Jablonki Challenge caused significant changes in the FIVB Olympic Rankings with just one tournament left in the qualification period, involving teams that were just outside the qualification zone and also ones who are battling other duos from their own countries for a spot in the Paris Games.

Men’s silver medalists Alayo and Diaz started the event outside the qualification zone but are now well inside it with the 760 points they collected, getting to 7,800. With that, Chilean cousins Marco and Esteban Grimalt, who have 7,260, were pushed down the list and are now looking from the outside.

The same movement happened among the women, in which Canadians Sarah Pavan and Molly McBain, who fell in semifinals to 0-2 (11-21, 18-21) to Latvia’s Tina/Anastasija, were the last team inside the zone, also added points, but got only to 6,660 and are now outside.

The Olympic qualification period comes to an end next week, after the conclusion of the Ostrava Elite16, which will go from Wednesday to Sunday in Czechia.