In the men’s branch, Argentina opened the day with a tight 2–1 victory (24–26, 21–13, and 15–11) against El Salvador. The duo composed of Marcos González and Fausto Inostroza recovered after giving up the first set and showed solidity in the following parts to seal their qualification.
Brazil also secured their place among the top four by defeating Canada 2–0 (21–19 and 21–18). The pair formed by Jonathan de Menezes and Isac de Farias managed the key moments of each set to leave the North Americans without a reaction.
In another emotional duel, Venezuela, represented by Juliangel Vargas and Esyenser Delgado, needed three parts to win 2–1 (19–21, 23–21, and 15–13) against Cuba. After an adverse start, the Venezuelans forced the third set and defined it in the details.
The last ticket went to the United States, with Gage Basey and Thomas Hurst, who authoritatively defeated Uruguay 2–0 (21–11 and 21–15). The Americans dominated from the start and closed their pass to the semifinals without any trouble.
With these results, the men’s semifinals were defined for this Thursday, August 21: Argentina vs. Brazil at 17:00 and Venezuela vs. United States at 17:45, on the main court of the Pynandí Stadium.
In the women’s branch, the United States opened their way to the semifinals with a solid 2–0 victory (21–14 and 21–17) over Cuba. The duo composed of Portia Sherman and Emma Donley showed superiority in both sets, controlling the game from serving and blocking.
In the second match, Canada staged a comeback against Brazil. With Sofía Hladyniuk and Jaeya Brach, the Canadians lost the first part but reacted forcefully to win 2–1 (16–21, 21–13, and 15–9) and make it into the top four.
Venezuela also sealed its ticket after beating Peru 2–0 (21–11 and 21–13). Sara López and Darlin Rodríguez dominated clearly from the start, imposing rhythm and power to close the match in consecutive sets.
The last semifinalist came from the South American duel between Paraguay and Bolivia. The Guaraní duo composed of Fiorella Núñez and Denisse Álvarez managed to reverse an adverse start to win 2–1 (19–21, 21–10, and 15–6), unleashing the celebration of the local public at the Pynandí Stadium.
Thus, the women’s semifinals will be played on Thursday, August 21: United States vs. Canada at 18:30 and Venezuela vs. Paraguay at 19:15.
The teams that failed to advance to the semifinals will continue in the competition this Thursday from 10:00, in the classification round for places 5 to 16. Beach volleyball continues to deliver a spectacle in ASU2025 and is approaching its medal definitions.
