Noslen Diaz and Jorge Alayo were first acknowledged as a top team in international beach volleyball after they dominated local tournaments held in the NORCECA region. Their first major victory on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour couldn’t, then, happen anywhere else in the world and so it was on Sunday, when the Cubans took gold in the Elite event held in Quintana Roo, Mexico.

With the vast support of the home fans, Diaz and Alayo emerged as the top team of the first Elite event of 2025 after beating the Argentinean Capogrosso brothers Nicolas and Tomas in the gold medal match at Playa del Carmen. American qualifiers Chaim Schalk and James Shaw completed the podium in Mexico and took bronze.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Quintana Roo Elite matches on demand on VBTV

Diaz, 22, and Alayo, 23, completed an undefeated campaign that saw them beat seven different teams in Mexico, including reigning world champions Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner of Czechia, while dropping just one set with a 2-0 (21-13, 24-22) victory over the Capogrosso brothers on Sunday’s gold medal match.

“We feel at home here in Mexico,” Diaz remarked. “The Mexicans are very supportive of us and I got to meet many Cubans who were cheering on us as well this week. I hope they all enjoyed this incredible event.”

Competing regularly on the Beach Pro Tour since 2023, the Paris 2024 Olympians had been in Beach Pro Tour finals three times before, all of them in Challenge events, but were yet to win gold. Heading to Quintana Roo, the two, who also took silver at the 2023 Pan-American Games, had achieved their best result at the Elite level in Mexico, where they took bronze in Tepic last year.

“It’s our first gold medal in an Elite event and I’m very grateful that it happened here in Mexico,” Alayo reacted. “The fans were amazing, I want to thank them, my coach and my partner for this victory.”

Their opponents in Sunday’s gold medal match, Nicolas and Tomas Caprogrosso were also pursuing their first gold medals in a Beach Pro Tour Elite event. They had, however, to settle for silver for a second straight time after finishing second also at the tournament held in Rio de Janeiro last November.

Americans win first medals

The third team to step on the podium in Quintana Roo, Americans Schalk and Shaw secured their first medal as partners in their fifth event sharing the same side of the court. The two started this week’s event in the qualifier and secured five wins in seven matches, the most notable of them against reigning Olympic champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden in the quarterfinals.

On Sunday, they rewarded their excellent week with a piece of silverware after prevailing over the new Dutch team of Alexander Brouwer and Steven van de Velde 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) in the bronze medal match.

After a one-week break, the Beach Pro Tour will return with another Elite event in Saquarema, Brazil, from April 9-13.

Quick links:
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
VBTV
Beach Volleyball World Facebook
Beach Volleyball World X
Beach Volleyball World Instagram
Beach Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter