Chile’s Thomas Acevedo & Maximiliano Cordova de Halleux have reached the quarterfinals of the 2021 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship in Roi-Et not by chance, not by coincidence and certainly not by luck.
Beach U21 World Champs 2023
Not just luck: Acevedo & Max make sensational quarterfinal entry
The young Chilean duo are out in Roi-Et to make history since the Grimalts
Published 07:18, 11 Nov 2023
Thomas Acevedo
Acevedo, who sports pink hair, explained the reason for the colorful hairstyle for the tournament.
“We have one thing – Kabbalah – it’s for good luck and it’s important for the Chilean people. And the next reason for my pink hair, is about one Chilean athlete who sported pink hair. He won first the first gold in athletics for Chile at the Pan American Games.”
In Thai culture, the pink color is believed to bring balance to one's body and mind. And in the Chilean duo’s match performances, their great balance of skills and composure is key to their success.
The Chilean won pool play and went on to beat the China’s Zhou Y. J./Xu Zongqi 2-1 (21-17, 18-21, 15-12).
“It’s one of the most beautiful games I have ever played,” said Acevedo on their match against the Asian squad. “I’m so happy that this win will allow us to play in the quarterfinals. And now we have to focus on that.”
“We know that the Chinese players are very tall, but they were also very clever. They did not attack to high, so we can’t read them often,” Max added.
“However, Thomas was clever in the block because he always found the ball. He also served with precision, and he did all the job.”
Maximiliano Cordova de Halleux
With their performances in Roi-Et, these two young men will certainly put Chile in the map of age-group tournaments, just like how their compatriots Marco and Esteban Grimalt have done for Chilean beach volleyball in the senior level.
For now, apart from chasing history, the focus of the duo is their upcoming quarterfinal encounter with Belgium’s Van Langendonck/Vercauteren. They will take a breather after this tournament and aim for the Olympic qualification next.
“We are going to take a rest after this. It was a very tough year with a lot of trainings in Brazil and Argentina. I think that we’re going to get some good rest very soon,” Max commented.
“If our compatriots, the Grimalts, will have the Olympic qualification, maybe we play the continental Cup, so we can see if we can have one more spot in the Olympics Games,” Acevedo ended.