Friday, November 3rd, 2023.- Male's volleyball at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games has reached the decisive stages in the quest for medals, with Argentina taking the spotlight as the first protagonist of the day. They defeated Cuba in the opening match of the semifinals at the Arena Parque O'Higgins.

The Argentine team triumphed with set scores of 21-25, 25-22, 25-18, and 25-18 against the Caribbean opponents, earning their ticket to the gold medal final at Santiago 2023. They are now just one win away from matching their achievement in Lima 2019.

Bruno Lima, a player for the South American team, expressed his happiness after the victory. "We played an incredible match. From the second set, we played very well, with the team moving smoothly on the court."

"We were prepared to face a very strong team with good servers that caused trouble in the first set. Afterward, we managed well to counteract that and ended up winning the match," he added.

To conclude, the Argentine athlete stated, "Now it's time to think about the final. We want to enjoy this moment, which is incredible. It's always nice to play a final with the national team."

Argentina's opponent for the gold medal will be determined by the winner of the match between Brazil and Colombia, who will face each other this Saturday, starting at 8:30 p.m, at the Arena Parque O'Higgins. Meanwhile, the loser of that contest will compete against Cuba for the bronze.

Written by Patricio Echagüe y Manfred Schwager; translated by Felipe Vergara / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo by Javier Valdés Larrondo / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport