Mexico and Chile repeat in the semifinal, Argentina and Canada join the fight

LIMA, Peru, July 28, 2019 - Exciting, full of action, spectacular plays and claw. So were the quarterfinals that left Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Canada classified to the semifinal of the men's beach volleyball tournament of the XVII Pan American Games in Lima 2019.

Chile with Marco and Esteban Grimalt, left Cuba on the road in two sets (21-13, 21-16), which had the bronze medalist in Toronto 2015, Sergio González and his partner Luis Reyes.

Chileans, fourth in Toronto, will be measured in the semifinals to Canadians Aaron Nusbaum and Michael Plantenga, who beat Claw 2-1 (28-26, 22-24, 15-7) to Venezuelans Rolando Hernández / José Gómez .

In the other key, Mexico with Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontveros, left the pit to be 17-20 in the first set against Oscar Brandao and Thiago Barbosa, from Brazil, to end up winning 27-25, while the second sleeve was 22-20 , thanks to the good blocking of Virgin and the defense of Ontiveros.

The serve of Virgin always looking for Barbosa took effect, complicating the attack of the Brazilians, who at the start of the game established an advantage with four powerful Thiago blocks.

And in the last game of the day, Nicolás Capogrosso and Julián Azaad, from Argentina, recovered from a lousy first set (14-21) against the Uruguayan Mauricio Vieyto and Marcus Cairus, to prevail 21-14, 18-16, in A game of pure emotion.

When the last point fell, Capogrosso ran at the end of the court, took off his shirt and with a silent scream let out all the pressure of the game, while his partner Azaad, did the same in the center of the arena.

In this way, Argentina will face Mexico, champion champion of the Pan American title.

COMMENTS

Marco Grimalt, de Chile: “We are happy to have more objective than we set for these Games, we are reaching a super positive game, of a very high level that leaves us alone. Now it is another championship, the fight for medals is taken from another. We raised our game and kept pace throughout the game, that made us dominate a little more. ”

Esteban Grimaltm, de Chile: “The best I think was how we faced the game in general, all the basics we did well, good communication.

Marcos was very good at blocking, marking and putting high pressure from there and facilitated the defense. We took an advantage from the beginning in the first set and that kept the Cuban team under pressure and we took risks, we developed our game better. ”

Nicolás Capogrosso, from Argentina: “The celebration was not to disrespect the rival, it was simply to take everything inside. We were looking forward to this game and when the time came, I just ran away ... I have no words, I'm out of breath, very excited. ”

Julián Azzad, from Argentina: “We started playing very badly, very stressed, we blocked well in the second set and in the third we were holding them, waiting, until the time came and we got the advantage. Uruguay is a tough opponent, we had won the last two times, but we managed to get this game out. ”

Juan Virgen, from Mexico: “I think it is always important from the service to bother the rival, that part was working for us. In the closing moments the one that withstands the pressure the most is the one that moves forward and I am happy with the result. Any team has the courage to recover from a disadvantage and end up winning the set.

Michael Plantinga, from Canada: “Chile has been playing very well, it is a very strong team, we have seen a great presentation of them early today, we need to continue with the energy we have been playing. Venezuela was also a very hard team, they had been growing since the group stage and with a good effort on the court we surpassed them”.

Results

Quarterfinals: CHI def CUB 2-0 (21-13, 21-16); CAN def VEN 2-1 (28-26, 24-22, 15-7); MEX def BRA 2-0 (27-25, 22-20); ARG def URU 2-1 (14-21, 21-14, 18-16). Place 9-12: USA from DOM 2-0 (21-13, 21-12); GUA def ESA 2-1 (21-13, 17-21, 15-11). Place 11-12: DOM def ESA 2-0 (21-11, 21-14). Place 13-14: NCA def CRC 2-0 (21-16, 21-14)