The change in weather forecasts for Sunday, which rules out the rains that were anticipated a few days ago, represents a relief for the Madrid Volleyball Federation, which organizes the Future (one of the three international divisions of the FIVB) at its facilities in the Parque Sindical. It will be this week (May 13, 14 and 15) the men’s event, and next (May 20, 21 and 22), it will be the women’s turn. These facilities are also fully renovated to host this international competition.
With 28 male couples registered, 16 will go on to the main draw, which begins to compete this Friday with four Spanish duos in the running. Madrid will be able to see Herrera and Gavira in action, who have been together since 2009, with one gold and two bronzes at the European Championships, and who has represented Spain in the last three Olympic Games. With the change in the FIVB regulations, moreover, the presence of both is forced to be competitive due to the need for points. In addition, they will also be in the Madrid arena these days Javier Montfort (alternates track and beach) and Pablo Pérez, that they have been together for two years and with good results; Javier Huerta and Oscar Jimenez (son of one of Spain’s beach legends, Sixto Jiménez); and the young players Alvaro Viera and Gabriel Gutierrez.
For the Future, Madrid has two game courts, with the central one with a capacity of almost a thousand seats and several areas reserved for guests and authorities imposed by the FIVB. Just yesterday the cleaning of a facility with three training tracks was completed. The matches will be every day from nine in the morning to nine at night, and with the final on Sunday (12:30).
Tania Moreno stands out in the United States
The Spanish (20 years old) is one of the stars of varsity beach volleyball at Texas Christian University, with which he has played the final phase of the NCAA, and in which he has finished in seventh position. She is the daughter of Olga Matvaeva, of Russian origin but settled in Spain since the end of the last century, and with whom she has competed in some national tournaments, has been selected as one of the stars of the League, and has finished this season with a mark of 39 wins and only 5 losses.
Medalist in the European Championships under-17, under-19 and also under-21, in the United States she coincides with two other players with whom she has partnered internationally with Spainthe Asturian Daniela Álvarez and the Cantabrian Ana Vergara.