Díaz and Alayo Advance to Round of 32 at Beach Volleyball World Championship

Cubans Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo advanced to the round of 32 after defeating the Portuguese duo of Joao Pedrosa and Hugo Campos 2-1 (17-21, 21-15, 15-12) to win Group F at the 2025 Adelaide Beach Volleyball World Championship.

This comeback victory demonstrated the caliber of the pair from Artemisa and Villa Clara against a recognized opponent. With this third win, they broke the tie of one victory apiece that the teams had maintained earlier this year.

They have thus achieved their first objective of moving into the next stage, scheduled for the 19th, following a win where the Cubans were superior in blocking (8-5) and service aces (2-0), while the Europeans led in attacks (29-31).

Once again, the students of coach Francisco Álvarez Cutiño were the ones who committed the fewest unforced errors (6-14). It is noteworthy that throughout the entire group elimination phase, they erred only 11 times, compared to 40 by their three opponents from Benin, New Zealand, and Portugal—a clear indication of the high level they have attained.

In the clash between the undefeated teams, Villa Clara's Alayo Moliner scored 26 points (17 attacks, 8 blocks, 1 ace) and Artemisa's Díaz Amaro added 13 (12 attacks, 1 ace). Pedrosa, in a superb performance, was the top scorer with 30 points (22 attacks, 5 blocks, 3 aces), while Campos contributed 12 (9 attacks, 3 aces). The Portuguese team finished second in the pool (2-1/5 points), followed by Fuller-O'Dea of New Zealand (1-2/4) and Yacoubou-Toheuegnon of Benin (0-3/3).

Gómez and Veranes Bow Out of World Championship

Meanwhile, Damián Gómez and Eblis Veranes said goodbye to the world championship after falling 0-2 (13-21, 18-21) to the Swiss pair of Yves Haussener and Julian Friedli (world No. 32) in their third and final match in Group J.

The Europeans were superior in attack (27-20) and service aces (2-1), and committed fewer unforced errors (8-12), though the Guantanamo natives had a 2-1 advantage in aces. Haussener and Friedli each scored 15 points, while Veranes tallied 13 and Gómez 10.

Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan (Qatar) dominated Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger (Austria) to win the group undefeated with six points, followed by the Swiss (2-1/5 points), the Austrians (1-2/4), and the Cubans (0-3/3).

However, the students of coach Walfrido Salas depart after a world championship debut in which they battled hard in every match within a difficult group. They faced experienced and high-quality pairs across the net, which served as a valuable lesson for the young duo—Gómez is just 21 and Veranes is 22—pointing towards a promising future.