Canadian duo seize gold medal at the Grand Cayman Beach Volleyball Tournament
The Grand Cayman Beach Volleyball Tournament had an amazing run over the last week. The campaign reached its final stage on Sunday, 27 March. The beautiful sunny 7 miles beach at the Grand Cayman hosted the action from 25-27 March.
The three-day event welcomed fourteen beach volleyball teams. In the men’s division, the pairing of Richard Van Huizen and Josh Binstock of Canada proved their endeavours and settled for the final show of the tournament. They were joined by Puerto Rican duo of Roberto Rodriguez and Christopher Underwood.
The Canadian team cleaned swept in two sets and got their hands on the gold medal. They posted 21-19 and 21-14 to claim victory. Likewise, the bronze medal match featured the Mexican and Canadian teams. The other Canadian duo couldn’t catch the spotlight and lost the bronze medal match to Mexicans.
Gold medal match
Richard Van Huizen opened the match with fantastic jump-serve. He rolled off the ball toward the targeted point. The Puerto Rican player received the ball with firm hands and returned it in Canadian half. In the next run, Huizen hit the ball with full power of his forearms and the ball slightly held up in air for some time.
Canadian side started the hard-hitting and managed to put pressure on the opponents. The scoreboard showed the better status of Canadian team. However, the Puerto Rican team was not ready to accept defeat easily. They remained remarkably consistent in throwing the ball in opponents’ half. The score soared up with a narrow margin. Anyhow, two service errors in relatively quick success caused a great damage to Puerto Rico. The Canadian team took full advantage of the opportunity and secured first set victory by polling 21-19.
After winning the first set, Canadian duo produced confident shots. They picked up an early lead and further tightened the screws of rival side. Puerto Rican team played under pressure and committed unforced mistakes. Huizen and Binstock traded places with perfect timing and raised their score.
The second set inched its way to the end, while Puerto Rican team trailed behind. They failed to put up with the deadly spikes and powerful under-hand shots of Canadian duo. Huizen and Binstock successfully covered the length of second set and built a winning score of 21-14. Canadian duo was declared the triumphant in the gold-medal match of Great Cayman Beach Volleyball Tournament.
The Canadian start, Van Huizen did a great job at pulling out gold medal victory. He had cramps in both legs one day before the final match. Nevertheless, he made tremendous progress and perfectly complimented his partner.
He shared his thoughts in the following manner: “I struggled in the first set but then I felt 100 percent in the second set. I controlled what I could control and managed myself physically. I have had to deal with these issues before and as soon as I arrived today I knew it was going to be a tough day for me with the hot weather.”
Bronze medal match
Mexico's Ulises and Lombardo Ontiveros came across Canadians Martin Reader and Chaim Schalk in the bronze medal match. The boys from Mexico displayed an incredible show of beach volleyball in opening set of the match. They dominated the opponents and sealed first-set win by posting 21-16.
The Canadian duo made a great come-back in the following set and hit the equalizer. They pulled off success by sending 21-15 on board. The 15-point golden set saw long rallies, while both sides played with best of their tactics. Eventually, Ulises and Lombardo Ontiveros emerged as winners of third set and the match winners as well. Third set was closed with the final score of 15-12.
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