After the end of the round of 16 Gran Canaria SSL Gold CupThe first edition of the Sailing World Cup now looks forward to the quarter-finals, which begins next Monday in the waters of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.. And already at this stage, the Spanish team led by Luis Duresti, the double Olympic medalist from Gran Canaria, is getting down to business.
The Spanish team already knows the opponents it will face in its group. They are Lithuania and Switzerlandwho ratified their classification yesterday in Capital Bay, and Italy, which also joins the competition at this stage. In addition to the Spaniards and Italians, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia have now begun their participation in the event.
Besides Lithuania and Switzerland, the other six teams to make it past the round of 16 were Hungary, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Portugal and France, who punched their ticket to fourth place on what was once again a thrilling final day. stood up.
The fourth and final round of the 16 test was decisive and resulted in four of the teams eliminated from the competition on Thursday being able to certify their continuation in the international event organized by the Star Sailors League and the Royal Canary Islands Sailing Federation.
In the second group, Lithuania, the strongest country among the 16 countries that competed in this third stage, and Brazil defended their first two places. The Lithuanians won again and concluded a perfect round with four wins out of a possible four. Behind, the fighting was between the Brazilians and the Tahitians, who stayed behind.
In Group C, Chile, which upended the general classification again at the last minute, qualified alongside Switzerland. The Chileans faced the final round of testing of 16 qualifying positions, just one point ahead of Switzerland and South Africa. The tie between the last two was decided in favor of the Swiss, ahead of South Africa in third place.
In Group D, it was a perfect day for France, who re-qualified with Portugal. The French crew faced the fourth and final test, with double points, from last place, four points ahead of tickets to the quarter-finals, which was between Portugal and Slovenia. The French team was able to achieve victory after an exciting confrontation in the last half with the Slovenians, who ranked fourth in the event and overall, which kept them out of the fight. The Portuguese team ranked second in the round and qualified for the next round as first in the group.
In the first set, the last match of this third stage completely turned the tables. Then came Argentina and the United States. Hungary and Malaysia finally won the two places to enter the quarter-finals.
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