Leila and Maylen survive Cancun’s group of death

If one of the eight groups of the women’s tournament of the first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 4-star event in Cancun were to be called ‘The Group of Death’, it would certainly be Pool B.

The pool was the only one to feature three teams that currently hold a top-15 spot in the world ranking. However, the group’s top spot went to the only duo that are currently not part of the top tier of the sport at the international level as Cuban qualifiers Leila Martinez and Maylen Deliz won both of their matches and advanced to the Round of 16, securing a top-ten finish in the event.

The Caribbeans didn’t have an easy path but successfully navigated it to continue their impressive run in Cancun, which started with a pair of wins in Friday’s qualifier. Their first main draw opponents were Australians Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho, ranked fifth in the world and the bronze medalists of the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.

Leila and Maylen showed a strong game to win 2-1 (21-17, 13-21, 15-11) and put themselves in position to win the pool, which they did later with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-12) victory against Dutch Olympians Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink, currently ranked 12th in the world and the winners of the 2018 European Championships.

“It was an incredible day for us,” Maylen reflected after their second victory. “To win matches against teams at this level is so important. We haven’t played on the World Tour in the last two years, but we’ve been training and preparing for this moment and it’s important to see that our hard work is showing now.”

The 27-year-old Maylen and the 26-year-old Leila have, however, been a force at the NORCECA level over the last few years. The two have won as many as six events on the region’s continental tour and have established themselves among the elite of the area.

Their dominance will be put to the test in June, when the Cubans will compete at the NORCECA’s Continental Cup tournament, in Mexico, which will qualify the winners for the Tokyo Olympics.

“After two years without competing, it’s fantastic that we won these matches,” Leila added. “It just gives us confidence that the work we did back in Cuba was good. Having the Continental Cup in a couple of months was a big reason why we came here. We wanted to see where we stand against the best teams in the world and fortunately, the first results have been very positive. Our main goal was to be in the main draw and we feel that we have nothing to lose now.”

Also winning their pools on Saturday were Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Talita Antunes/Taiana Lima, USA’s April Ross/Alix Klineman, Canada’s Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes, Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Margareta Kozuch, Switzerland's Nina Betschart/Tanja Huberli and Russia's Nadezda Makroguzova/Svetlana Kholomina.

Three of the eight pool finals were decided in three-setters with Ross and Klineman defeating Canadians Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson 2-1 (21-16, 18-21, 15-13) in Pool A, Pavan and Humana Paredes downing Germany's Chantal Laboureur and Cinja Tillman 2-1 (21-19, 22-24, 15-8) and Ludwig and Kozuch prevailing 2-1 (21-19, 17-21, 15-10) in an all-German matchup with Sandra Ittlinger and Kim Behrens.

Go to:
Cancun Hub - 1st event
Cancun Hub - 1st event - Match schedule
Provisional Olympic ranking - Men
Provisional Olympic ranking - Women

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