Four countries in women's semifinals of beach volleyball

PANAMA, November 10, 2018 - Four countries will have the opportunity to seek the gold medal of the women's tournament of the XVIII Central American Major Beach Volleyball Championship.

After an intense day, many emotions and draws in the standings, in the end they were classified Costa Rica 1 and El Salvador in group A, while in B, Guatemala 1 was first and Nicaragua 1 was second.

The semifinals will be between Marcela Araya / Eugenia Ramírez (CRC 1), winners of group A, against Swan Mendoza / Socorro López, second of B with three wins and one defeat.

In the other key, Kathya Vásquez and María Fernanda Vargas, of El Salvador, will face the only undefeated, the Guatemalan Natalia Jirón / Estefanie Bethancourt.

In group A, three pairs were registered with three wins and one loss, but the tie breaker by point ratio left out Blanca Recinos / Susana Alvarado, of Guatemala 2, who lost a match in two sets (14-21, 13- 21) against the Salvadoran Vásquez / Vargas and that made the difference.

Recinos / Alvarado had previously won 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) to Araya / Ramírez, but it was not enough to advance.

In Group B, Costa Rica 2 (Katherine Quesada / Melisa Armijo) was overtaken by the Nicaraguan Mendoza / Lopez in three sets (21-17, 22-24, 12-15) which was crucial to stay out of the semifinals.

Recinos / Alvarado were unbeaten by winning on Saturday Quesada / Armijo (CRC 2) in two sets (21-13, 21-19) and 2-0 (21-9, 21-12) to Hashlyn Cuero / Kilary Pérez, of Panama 2.

Mendoza / Lopez won 2-0 (21-7, 21-14) over Kelsey Balderramos / Nelissa Ramírez of Belize and then completed the task by beating Costa Rica.

The semifinals will start this Sunday at 9:00 a.m., and the finals will be played starting at 2:00 p.m. on the courts of the Royal Decamerón Hotel, in Farallón, Panama.

The matches will also be held to define positions 5-6, and from 7 to 10 with Costa Rica 2 facing Panama 1 and Guatemala 2 against Belize. Nicaragua and Panama 2 will play for ninth place.