The Cuban duo of Nivaldo Diaz and Sergio Gonzalez achieved two wins today in the three-star stop of the 2018 Beach Volleyball World Tour taking place in Mersin, Turkey, from May 2 to 6.

Diaz-Gonzalez first beat 2-0 (21-9 and 21-18) the Finn couple made up by Jyrki Nurminen-Santeri Siren, result which allowed them to continue in the contest as they debuted losing 0-2 (19-21 and 16-21) to the Serbian pair of Stefan Basta and Lazar Kolaric.

Also today, in the round 1, the Caribbean duet defeated 2-1 (21-13, 19-21 and 15-13) Latvians Regza-Smits and they will face later, in the round 2, the Qatari team of Cherif-Ahmed Tijan, according to the official website of the tournament.

The Cuban pair, fifth at Rio 2016 Olympics, rejoined the world tour after ranking 25th in the stop of Xiamen, China, with balance of two wins and two losses.

After the Chinese tournament, Diaz and Gonzalez finished second in the third stop of the NORCECA circuit held in Varadero Beach, Cuba.

Their main goal this year is the Barranquilla Central American and Caribbean Games, from July 19 – August 3, where they will defend the crown they won in the previous edition of Veracruz 2014.

Prior to that major competition, they will also attend the World Tour stops of Luzern, Switzerland; Itapema, Brazil; Ostrava, Czech Republic; Warsaw, Poland and Esphino, Portugal.