The local duo of Joel Theodore and Stephen Enile will go into Saturday's final round-robin match in Pool A against Panama's Victor Araúz and Adamit Del Cid from 9 am, still with a chance of advancing to the quarterfinals of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Continental Tour Finals at the Juan Dolio Beach, Dominican Republic, nearby to the Hotel Costa Caribe.
This after Theodore and Enile, who ended in the 11th spot of 16 in the fifth stage of the Norceca Beach Volleyball Tour at Flor Blanca Sports Complex in the City of San Salvador, El Salvador on Sunday, closed Friday's opening day of competition with a 1-1 record.
In their opener, Theodore and Enile came from a set down to beat Guatemalans José Miguel Izaguirre and Luis García 18-21, 21-16, 15-11 in 52 minutes before they were defeated by Dominican Republic's Hayerling De Jesús and Oscar Martínez 8-21, 9-21 while the latter also beat Araúz and Del Cid 21-10, 21-15 for a 2-0 record on the day. De Jesus and Martines play Izaguirre and Garcia in today's other final Pool A match ahead of the second-round main draw and playoff knockout matches.
The NORCECA Tour Final is part of the Olympic qualification system for beach volleyball in NORCECA for Paris 2024 in France, hence the significance of the event that brings together big names from the NORCECA Tour and the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.
Last weekend, the T&T men 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.
