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COLIMA, Mexico, June 26, 2021. - Cuba goes up
against Mexico at the NORCECA Continental Cup
Finals for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic spot in
Colima, Mexico.
Lidy Echevarría and Yanisleydis Sanchez with
Leila Martinez and Mailen Deliz from Cuba will
face Mexican duos of
Martha Revuelta and Zaira Orellana and Susana
Torres/María José Quintero on Sunday for the
last spot to go to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The first match of the series between Cuba and
Puerto Rico was an exciting three-set comeback
win for Lidy and Yanisleydis 2-1 (19-21, 21-17,
15-8) against María González and Allanis Navas.
Puertorico’s communication in the first set was
crucial, they were confident in their moves and
their skillfull defense along with a smart
offense kept the scores really close. Lidy and
Yanisleydis grabbed the second set with good
offense, but still the scores were tight. It was
up to the third set that Cuba jumped ahead by
huge eight point advantage (11-3) and not giving
Puerto Rico any chance to recover.
Lidy indicated it was a tough battle “we did not
lose our head and we failed a lot in the first
set; it was tough, we never gave up and we were
able to keep up until the win”.
Leila Martinez and Mailen Deliz faced Lara
Torruella/Lina Bernier of Puerto Rico-2, with
both teams showing a balanced performance. Leila
and Mailen were stronger in the first set of the
match, communicating a lot and taking matters
under control; still it wasn’t necessary to push
themselves to perform with the explosion they
normally do.
Leila expressed that reaching the final was the
goal “we wish to be in the Olympic Games, it’s
been a long two-year preparation beacause the
Games were postponed, we have worked hard and we
hope not to miss the ticket just like in the
past Olympics”.
Estefanie Bethancourt and Natalia Girón of
Guatemala-1 gave Martha Revuelta and Zaira
Orellana of Mexico-1 a lot of trouble during the
first set. Guatemala took the lead; they were
solid, focused and kept a three-point lead
(13-10) until Mexico’s strategy with Martha
Revuelta using more offense helped them turn
things around. In set two, Martha and Zaira
controlled Guatemala’s offense; they were more
effective and sealed the series in two sets.
Zaira spoke about the differences of their
performance in the first and second sets “our
decision to win was crucial, I told myself not
to give up and we were able to stop the nerves,
both teams were strong”.
Martha Revuelta expressed “it’s always difficult
in your first match, Guatemala had already a
strong performance yesterday with a great debut
over Costa Rica; we adjusted our rhythm. We
trusted our good skills and we had an excellent
attitude on the court”.
Mexico-2 of Susana Torres and María José
Quintero had an easy win over Guatemala-2 of
Paola Alvarado and Ana Sofía Arévalo 2-0 (21-7,
21-10). They performed relaxed and weren’t in
any serious situation that needed their best
tactics.
Results Women’s Semifinals Saturday
Cuba 2, Puerto Rico 0
Lidianny Echevarría/Yanisleydis Sanchez CUB-1
d María González/Allanis Navas PUR-1 (19-21,
21-17, 15-8)
Leila Martinez/Mailen Deliz CUB-1 d
Lara Torruella/Lina Bernier PUR-2 (21-16, 21-18)
Mexico 2, Guatemala 0
Martha Revuelta/Zaira Orellana MEX-1 Estefanie
Bethancourt/Natalia Girón GUA-1 (21-19, 21-15)
Susana Torres/María José Quintero MEX-2 d Paola
Alvarado/Ana Sofía Arévalo GUA-2 (21-7, 21-10) |
