The local duo of Joel Theodore and Stephen Enile was gifted the 11th spot of 16 participating teams when the fifth stage of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour at Flor Blanca Sports Complex in the City of San Salvador, El Salvador on Sunday (December 10).
This after Theodore and Enile won their scheduled 11th to 12th playoff encounter against Nicaraguans Carlos Solís and Denis López by default (21-0, 21-0) due to an injury by a member of the latter team.
When the tournament served off on Friday, Theodore and Enile had to settle for the third spot in Pool A with a 1-2 record.
Canadians Arran Chambers and Liam Kopp won Pool A and advanced undefeated to the quarterfinals after a long day with three victories.
First, they defeated Franklin Flores and Armando Guatemala from El Salvador 2-0 (23-21, 21-13), then earned a 2-0 (21-6, 21-12) win against Shawn Seabrookes and Clerique Ward from St Kitts and Nevis, and finished the day with a 2-0 (21-11, 21-14) victory over Theodore and Enile.
Flores and Guatemala finished second in Pool A and also advanced to the quarterfinals after they defeated Seabrookes and Clerique 2-0 (21-11, 21-8) and Theodore and Enile 2-0 (21-13, 21-14) while the T&T duo won the clash of Caribbean nations 2-1 (18-21, 21-16, 15-9) for the third spot in Pool A with a 1-2 record.
In the playoffs for positions, ninth to 12th, the T&T pair went under to Guatemala’s José Miguel Izaguirre and Mario Ventura in their semifinal 0-2 (17-21, 19-21) while twin brothers Christopher and Yoel Guardado from El Salvador won by default from Solis and Lopez.
In the gold medal match, Chambers and Kopp defeated USA's Jordan Hoppe and James Shaw 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 15-13) for their first gold of three medals won in four tournaments together.
They also won the bronze medal at the beginning of this season in Aguascalientes and another bronze in the Cayman Islands, last year.
To advance to the gold medal match, the Canadian duo defeated Miguel Sarabia and Juan Virgen of Mexico in their semifinal 2-0 (21-15, 21-15), while Hoppe and Shaw defeated their compatriots Charles Siragusa and Zephyr Dew 2-0 (21-19, 21-15).
The bronze medal went to Sarabia and Virgen after they beat Siragusa and Dew 2-0 (21-12, 21-19).
Earlier on in the quarterfinals, Chambers and Kopp earned their spot in semifinals with a victory over Criforth Lobo and Yulius Brown from Costa Rica, who withdrew from the competition as Criforth suffered an injury.
Hoppe and Shaw defeated Marc Lomeli and Anthony Pippen of the US Virgin Islands 2-0 (21-10, 21-10; Siragusa and Dew overcame El Salvadoreans Franklin Flores and Armando Guatemala 2-1 (21-19, 19-21, 15-11);CAC Games champions Sarabia and Virgen rallied past Canada's Jake MacNei and Alexander Russell also of Canada 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 18-16).
The NORCECA Tour is of utmost importance to all competing teams as points awarded goes towards their ranking points as part of the qualification process for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
