Cuban women's beach duo wins gold at NORCECA qualifier

HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 18 (ACN) The Cuban duo of Leila Martinez and Lidianny Echeverria won on Sunday the title in the North, Central America and the Caribbean (Norceca) beach volleyball qualifying tournament, held in the Dominican Republic.

This is an important event, since this is where points are distributed -320, 288 and 256 for the first three places- for the World Championship, scheduled to take place June 7 to 19 in Rome, Italy.

In Punta Cana, Martinez and Echeverria defeated Canadian twins Megan and Nicole McNamara for the crown, with a 2-0 slate (24-22 and 25-23), after a hard-fought 49 minutes of play.

They opened the winning path in Group B with victories over the Dutch Antilles duos of Tolentino-Delys, with scores of 2-0 (21-9 and 21-12), and the Virgin Islands duos of Notterfield-Valenciana, 2-0 (21-8 and 21-9), in that order.

In the semifinals, the Cubans defeated the Dominican team of Payano-Rosario 2-0 (21-14 and 21-14), a success that guaranteed them the gold medal and the world ticket, as well as the Canadians, according to the website www.norceca.net.