Mexico failed to stand out in volleyball; was beaten 3-0 by Italy and is now close to being eliminated from Rio. The goalkeeper Alejandra Valencia did not win the bronze, after Gabriela Bayardo was also eliminated yesterday. Meanwhile, Long Gutiérrez could not obtain enough mark to position himself in the semifinals.
Mexico City, August 12 (SinEmbargo/EFE/dpa).– Almost a week before the start of the Olympic Games, Mexico still does not appear in the medal table and some of the promises have been left out. In this context, the country seems to be getting ready to return home without any medals won. Although the men’s beach volleyball team achieved a victory over Tunisia yesterday.
While the Mexican indoor volleyball team could not beat Italy, which easily won 3-0, leaving Mexico close to elimination. The hope of bronze in archery also faded, after Alejandra Valencia fell 6-4 to Korean Ki-Bo Bae.
Another Mexican who said goodbye to Rio was Long Yuan Miguel Gutiérrez Feng; His mark of 53.34 seconds was not enough to reach the semifinals.
MEXICO WINS IN BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Mexicans Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros qualified for the round of 16 after beating Mohamet Arafet Naceur and Choaib Belhaj Salah of Tunisia in the group stage.
The score: 2-0, with partial scores of 21-10 and 21-10, on the alternate court of the main stadium.
The national team closed the first phase with 5 points in Group C, after beating Italy and losing to the United States.
VOLLEYBALL: ITALY DEFEATS THE NATIONAL TEAM
Mexico fell again today in the volleyball tournament of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games and did so harshly against Italy 3-0 with partial scores of 25-17, 25-13 and 25-17, in exactly one hour of play .
Italy, a power in this sport, took care to establish the differences that exist between the world elite and those who come behind.
The Mexican team is new to the volleyball scene, and the Italian team took advantage of the errors and imbalances of the team led by Jorge Azair, but above all, it put into play the virtues that have distinguished it for years as one of the leading countries in volleyball. the specialty.
Just 38 minutes had passed since the start of the match when the scoreboard already indicated 25-17, 25-13. The first chapter was a recital of Italian auctions. The “azzurra” was 65 percent effective at the net, where Zaytzev, Juantorena and Lanza destroyed the rival blocking attempt again and again.
But if up to that point the match was tough, the first half of the second set was directly a nightmare for Mexico. Winning points with all possible variants, Italy reached an 11-2 advantage that raised fears of an embarrassing result.
The grit and will of the Mexican team partially stopped the bleeding, but it barely served for the quarter to end with a very large 25-13.
Argentine Raúl Lozano, Iran’s coach, recently assured dpa that mistakes are directly related to the technical ability of the players: “Those who are better make fewer mistakes.” And at the moment, Italy has a lot of advantage over Mexico in that regard.
The last set had a development opposite to the previous one. It started evenly, with Mexico determined to dignify the certain defeat and Italy somewhat unfocused and with several substitutes on the field.
Thanks to both circumstances, the Americans maintained parity until 12-10. But then the Europeans recharged their batteries and their arms, unleashed a new flurry of relentless attacks and easily reached the final 25-17.
Jorge Azair and his players know well that they have come to these Games to learn, beyond the hope of doing a good job. If you take it that way, it could be said that today at the Maracanazinho Mexico took away a good dose of knowledge of how to play volleyball at the highest level.
Even so, the Aztec team retains some remote possibility of advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament. To do so, they would have to win their two remaining games: on Saturday against Canada, and on Monday, closing Group A, against the United States. But he will have to improve a lot if he wants those options to be true.
ARCHERY: VALENCIA FALLS
The Mexican Alejandra Valencia was a couple of arrows away from winning the first medal for Mexico in Rio 2016 by losing 6-4 in her duel for the bronze medal against the Korean Ki-Bo Bae.
Valencia, which managed to tie an adverse score twice, could not achieve its last shots in a good way, a situation that was taken advantage of by Bae who finally won the bronze medal.
Previously, Valencia had lost its archery semifinal match 6-2 against German Lisa Unruh.
The Mexican had made her way to the semifinals after convincingly defeating the South Korean Choi Mi-sun 6-0.
Valencia, who looked confident and precise in her shots, eliminated Choi Mi-sun, ranked number one in the world in this discipline and who already had a gold medal in these Olympic Games after being crowned in the team archery category.
Lisa Unruh will compete for gold after eliminating Valencia and Gabriela Bayardo in the round of 32.
This morning Valencia had achieved its place in the quarterfinals of Women’s Archery after defeating the representative of India, Bombay Devi Laishram, 6-2.
She is ranked as the best representative of this discipline in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, she is one step away from the podium because by winning her semifinal duel she would be securing the bronze medal for Mexico.
SWIMMING: GUTIÉRREZ IS ELIMINATED
The Mexican Long Yuan Miguel Gutiérrez Feng was left out of the semifinals, after obtaining 32nd place in the 100-meter butterfly eliminatory round, with a mark of 53.34 seconds.
At the Olympic Aquatic Stadium, Gutiérrez Feng finished in seventh place among the participants, but only the first two were able to continue in the contest.
Joseph Schooling, from Singapore, obtained the best time with 51.41 seconds, beating Michael Phelps by 19 hundredths.
WHAT’S COMING FOR MEXICO
This Friday the athletics events at the Olympic Games begin. The Mexican delegation will have an important participation as Brenda Flores, Central American champion in Veracruz 2014 and Pan American Champion in Toronto 2015, will try to reach the podium in the women’s 10,000 meter final.
The walking tests also begin, where Julio César Salazar, Ever Palma and Pedro Flores will compete to reach the podium in a discipline where Mexico has obtained medals in previous editions of the Olympic Games.
Boxer Misael Rodríguez will also jump on the scene this afternoon in the round of 16 of the men’s middleweight. Rodríguez will seek his second victory in this summer fair and thus be able to advance to the quarterfinals.
Diving will also have Mexican representation this day as the duo made up of Melany Hernández and Doleres Hernández will compete in the preliminary women’s 3-meter individual springboard tests.
The pair of rowers made up of Kenia Lechuga and Juan Carlos Cabrera will seek to take the big step and get into the battle for the medals when they compete in the rowing semifinals on Friday, August 12.
-With information from DPA and EFE
