Mexico will defend Pan American title against Chile

LIMA, Peru, July 29, 2019 - Mexico and Chile are to dispute the final of the men's beach volleyball tournament of the XVIII Pan American Games after wins over Canada and Argentina, respectively, being the second final in a row for the Mexican couple Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros.

Marco and Esteban Grimalt, fourth in Toronto 2015, showed their constancy and level of play by subduing 2-0 (21-12, 21-14) Aaron Nusbaum/Michael Plantinga of Canada, who failed to react to Esteban's service (four aces) and Marco's effective blocking.

In the other semifinal, Virgen/Ontiveros, came from behind to advance to the final by recovering from losing the first set 9-21, to win 21-17, 15-12 to Nicolás Capogrosso and Julián Azaad of Argentina.

After Capogrosso/Azaad swept Mexico off the court, it seemed that there was no way to go back, but the effective blockade of Virgen, plus the mobility of Ontiveros in the defensive zone, caused the Argentines to become unadjusted.

In the second set Virgin/Ontiveros marked the game, with serves that had no response and that improved the offensive game. In the third, Mexico, took a slight advantage of 3 points, which in the end Capogrosso / Azaad.could not overcome.

Mexico and Chile played in the pool D, with a victory for the Chileans 2-1, who ended up undefeated, while Mexico had to battle to defeat Canada and Nicaragua. The final will be at 2:30 p.m. Peru time.

COMMENTS

Juan Virgen: “This is a super intense feeling, we wanted to be on the podium and we already have it, but the truth is something incredible. The first set was dismal, nothing came out, that hits a lot of mind and it's hard to get out of there. The experience helped a lot, the truth is a great achievement and tomorrow we have the option of the gold medal”.

Lombardo Ontiveros, from Mexico: “Leaving a pit like this is almost impossible, we had to endure, calm down and in the end we regained confidence. The final is one of those games that we have to adjust what we have already done, we already play against Chile in the group and we will enter with everything, with a claw”.

Esteban Grimalt: “Canada is a strong team that participates in some dates of the World Circuit, we had to press from the beginning with our serve, make a difference that gave us confidence, and when that happens, when there is one team over another in confidence, You can make a difference. We had to work and do our best at point to point”.

Marcos Grimalt: “It is a process to reach these instances, to be a high performance athlete it takes years, we have been working for about 9-10 years in high performance, and it can be said that it is our best season because of that, to the many sacrifices we have to make; It is not from one day to another that the results are achieved and we are satisfied with the results we are achieving”.

Results

Semifinal: CHI def CAN 2-0 (21-12, 21-14) MEX def ARG 2-1 (9-21, 21-17, 15-12). Place 5-8: CUB def VEN 2-1 (14-21, 26-24, 15-12); URU def BRA 2-0 (21-13, 22-20). Place 9-10: GUA def USA 2-1 (22-24, 37-35, 15-11)