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KISH ISLAND, Iran, February 22, 2016 – Lombardo Ontiveros and
Juan Virgen have certainly enjoyed the past few years as they
established themselves on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
and now the pair are aiming to continue their rise as the
2015-16 gets back underway.
Currently Mexico's leading pair is a long way from home, nearly
14,000 kilometers to be precise, at the Kish Island Open where
they were knocked out by Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Jefferson
Santos at the quarterfinal stage. Nonetheless, such has been
their progress over the past two seasons that it would come as
little surprise to see them back on the podium soon.
Their breakthrough came at the end of 2014 when they won bronze
in front of their home fans at the Puerto Vallarta Open and they
added a second World Tour medal in 2015 when they claimed silver
at the Antalya Open.
They also won gold at the Toronto 2015, Pan-American Games and
bronze at the NORCECA Continental Championships. It is a
partnership that is founded on Ontiveros and Virgen pushing each
other hard on court, but remaining friends off it.
“He is a very tough guy, he challenges you to do things better
so that is good for me,” Ontiveros said. “Off the court he is a
great friend and I couldn’t be any happier right now.
“We are doing well in our careers. Not quite as well as we would
like, but it’s great.”
Underpinning their growing success is the support of the Mexican
Volleyball Federation. Over the past few seasons the Federation
has supported the Puerto Vallarta Open and established a
National Beach Volleyball Tour on some of the most famous of
Mexico’s numerous beaches, including Cancun and Acapulco.
Domestic Tour
It means that Mexico’s players are able to experience playing at
the top level of the sport and develop their skills in a
competitive domestic environment.
“It is super important,” the 32-year-old Ontiveros added. “The
younger players can see a good level of beach volleyball and
they need to see it to plant some objective for their futures in
beach volleyball.
“Right now the federation has supported the National Tour for
the last three years. It has been great for younger players and
great for beach volleyball in Mexico. There are many things to
fix, but we have made a start.”
Ontiveros and Virgen’s success has begun to garner headlines in
Mexico. Football is a clear favorite among the public and press,
with basketball, baseball and volleyball following in the
nation’s affections, but Ontiveros believes that beach
volleyball is next in line.
Brotherly love
The pair both enjoyed success at age-group level; Ontiveros
reached the 2003 U21 World Championships quarterfinals alongside
Erik Rojo, the same year Virgen finished fourth at the U19 World
Championships in tandem with Michel Mokondoko.
During their rise through the rankings both have played
alongside Ontiveros’ younger brother Ulises, but since teaming
up in 2013 Ontiveros and Virgen quickly began winning NORCECA
Tour medals and now that they have started doing the same on the
World Tour, there is no end to the limit of their ambitions.
“People have started talking about us, but we have tried to not
think so much about it and instead focused on other objectives,”
Ontiveros said. “Sometimes things go well, sometimes they don’t,
but it was a pretty good year last year and we have to try to
forget it and do better.
“We will try to keep pushing and then we can see if we can reach
the Rings (Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games), but it is so
competitive right now and every team wants the same objective.”
The Kish Island event is the first of the 11 Open tournaments to
be staged by the FIVB in 2016, following on from Open events in
Puerto Vallarta, Antalya and Doha in October and November last
year, which heralded the start of the 2015-16 season. Qatar will
host a second Open event in Doha from April 4 to 8.
The 2015-2016 beach volleyball calendar also includes five Grand
Slams, three Major Series stops and the second edition of the
Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals. The beach volleyball tournament
at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games which will take place
on Copacabana Beach will be the highlight of the 2016 calendar. |
