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COLIMA, Mexico, June 27, 2021. - Mexico claimed
the spot to the Tokyo Olympic Games in a
dramatic Golden Set over Canada at the NORCECA
Continental Cup Finals in Colima, Mexico.
Mexico’s Olympic berth came with extreme drama,
from the hands of young Josué Gaxiola and José
Luis Rubio who beat both Canadian duos under
heavy rain and tough conditions in Colima.
Gaxiola and Rubio first faced Samuel Schachter
and Sam Pedlow finishing with a spectacular 2-0
(24-22, 21-13). Tensions were really high with
Gaxiola and Rubio stealing the set to Canada
while recovering from a four-point deficit
(15-19); Mexico missed their first of two set
points and finished 24-22 on a huge block from
Rubio. In set two, Mexico was more confident
and led by a huge 7pt-margin (12-5) on many
Canadian unforced errors and Gaxiola’s smart
moves ending 21-13.
In the second match of the series, Canadians
Grant O’Gorman and Ben Saxton were more
consistent than Juan Virgen and Lombardo
Ontiveros of Mexico. Both O’Gorman and Saxton
were focused, showing skillful plays in their
2-0 (21-18, 21-13) win. Set two was Canada’s
strongest performance, leading by huge 10-3 and
extending their Olympic dream to a Golden Set by
evening the series.
Josué Gaxiola and José Luis Rubio faced Grant
O’Gorman and Ben Saxton in the tie-break, youth
against experience was a great display for the
Mexican supporters who showed up despite the
pouring rain at the Colima Sports Institute. The
scores were always close, but it was Gaxiola and
Rubio who jumped to a 13-11 lead but needed
three match points to win the Olympic berth for
Mexico 15-13.
José Luis Rubio said “we were confident in all
our preparation from these past years, we knew
we were capable and in the end the result speaks
for itself. In the first match of the series we
were nervous and a little desperate, we were
able to calm down to close the match. Our
adrenaline of the golden set was necessary to
win this small (in points) but huge set”.
Josué Gaxiola indicated that the Olympic berth
was always the goal here and their confidence as
a team made it possible “we are sure that México
has a great team, we can make lots of great
things and having this opportunity we can show
it. I consider our friendship with José Luis our
greatest strength”.
Earlier, under similar conditions with strong
rain but with a strong performance Puerto Rico
took third place in the event. Kevin Rodríguez
and Cristian Encarnación earned the bronze medal
for Puerto Rico defeating Central American
Champions Ruben Mora and Dany López from
Nicaragua 2-1 (26-28, 21-17, 17-15) in a really
close and exciting match.
Men’s Results Sunday
Puerto Rico 2, Nicaragua 0
Kevin Rodríguez/Cristian Encarnación PUR-1 d
Ruben Mora/Dany López NCA-1 (26-28, 21-17,
17-15)
Josue Rivera/Juan C. Ribas PUR-2 d Jefferson
Cascante/Dennis López NCA-2 (21-0, 21-0)
Mexico 2, Canada 1
Josue Gaxiola/Jose Luis Rubio MEX-1 d Samuel
Schachter/Sam Pedlow CAN-1 (24-22, 21-13)
Grant O’Gorman/Ben Saxton CAN-2 d Juan
Virgen/Lombardo Ontiveros MEX-2 (21-18, 21-13)
GOLDEN SET
Josue Gaxiola/Jose Luis Rubio MEX-1 d
Grant O’Gorman/Ben Saxton CAN-2 (15-13) |
