Pocitos, Uruguay, February 3, 2020 – The field is set for the Final Round of the Men’s Beach Volleyball Continental Cup in South America as Venezuela triumphed in the semifinal round this weekend in Pocitos, Uruguay, and will join Argentina, Brazil and Chile from June 22-28.
The Venezuelans, who are trying to qualify for the Olympic Games for just the second time after Igor Hernandez and Jesus Villafane competed in London 2012, upset the competition of Colombia, Ecuador and host Uruguay to book their places in the Final Round, which will secure the winning nation a berth at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
After defeating Colombia and Ecuador respectively in the first day of the tournament, Venezuela and Uruguay advanced to the final series in Pocitos. As the four matches ended with two victories for each side, the spot in the Final Round was decided in the Golden Set, which saw Carlos ‘Charly’ Rangel and Hernan Tovar down Hans Hannibal and Gaston Baldi by the slightest of margins (15-13).
The other two components of the Venezuelan team were veterans Farid Mussa and Jackson Henríquez, who combine for 124 FIVB World Tour appearances among them.
“We’re very happy, especially because Jackson and I had some problems and couldn’t join the rest of the team for the preparation in Spain,” Rangel commented. “But we still managed to achieve our goals here and now we focus on the final round, where we’ll try to secure the Olympic berth.”
The Women’s Continental Cup in South America will see the semifinal round taking place in San Juan de los Morros, Venezuela, in March, when the hosts, Chile, Ecuador and Paraguay will play. Argentina, Brazil and Colombia are guaranteed places in the Final Round.
Source: Volley - fivb.org
