Cuba lost to Canada in four sets in the tightest game yet at the V Men’s Under-21 Volleyball Pan American Cup being held at the Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum. However, he still has a chance to qualify for the world championship in the category.

The northerners, who qualified directly for the semi-finals on Friday, won the cake with partials of 22-25, 25-23, 25-23 and 25-17 after nearly two hours of action. From start to finish, the duel brought together enthusiastic fans who supported the battle unfolding on the field with their music and enthusiasm.

Canada dominated the hosts in blocking (10-7), serving (10-3) and attacking (48-46). They also made more errors than at home (32-29).

the opposite room Alejandro Miguel González again concluded as the top scorer in a game with 24 pointsfollowed by partner Bryan Camino, who contributed 13.

For the winners, cornerback Reeve Gingera contributed the most to his team with 19 points, while opposite Brendan Mills and winger Jacob Sargent each had 14 points.

Jesús Cruz, Cuban coach, considered that “it was a difficult match, but that does not take us away from our objective of discussing the final and securing qualification for the World Cup. We train to win, but we also prepare for defeat. Today we lost against a team that made fewer mistakes”.

The former player lamented that after winning the first set, the advantages obtained at the start of the other two did not know how to keep him. “There was a lack of concentration to be able to complete the sets,” he said.

Alejandro Miguel commented that “this match was complicated and difficult. In the first set the game went better for us, in the next two we tried to include more centre-backs so that the game didn’t just go through zone two, It started to go well for us but we couldn’t close.

“We have to improve, but it will make us stronger for our goal of reaching the final, fighting to win and qualifying for the world championship. We are playing for this,” said the great athlete who was the top scorer for Cuba and the game with 25, 15 and 24 points against Haiti, Nicaragua and Canada, in that order.

Canadian coach Ben Josephson commented that “we knew it was going to be a great game, very tough, and it went as we expected. The fans present have always supported their team. We made some tactical changes and blocking worked well. In the end, we managed to separate and achieve victory.

Gingera, the most productive against the home team with 14 points, including four for services, said “it was a good thing for so many fans, I was very nervous at the beginning because it’s my first event international, but little by little I got over it. I am very happy with everything, especially with the atmosphere that reigned all the time at the Colosseum”.

This Thursday the winner of group A is defined with the match between the United States (2-0) and Chile (1-1), scheduled for 10 am. The quarter-final matches will take place at five o’clock in the afternoon and seven o’clock in the evening.

Both teams had airlift setbacks and were unable to play on Monday. The South Americans are 1-1.

If the undefeated Americans win, they will directly secure a spot in the semi-finals and the Chileans will be our team’s opponents in the quarter-finals, which will take place this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Before, at 5:00 p.m., they will face each other at the crossroads of Mexico (2-1) and Haiti (1-2).

This Wednesday, in Group A, the United States signed another convincing victory against the Dominican Republic (25-21, 25-15, 25-21). The Quisqueyans ended their commitments with three losses in the same number of field trips.

In other results, Mexico outclassed Chile (25-13, 15-25, 26-24, 25-21) and completed both victories in the face of a loss in Lot Awhile Haiti posted an average of 1-2 beating Nicaragua in four sets (18-25, 25-9, 26-24, 25-21).

(taken from HIT)