Brazil continued its winning streak in home tournaments of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour and secured both the men’s and the women’s titles of this week’s Elite16 event held in the country’s capital Brasília on Sunday.

With the victories of Evandro Gonçalves/Arthur Lanci and Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa/Ana Patrícia Ramos at the Parque da Cidade, the South American nation has now sent teams to the top of the podium in the last five tournaments held in the country.

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Evandro and Arthur, who had contributed to the country’s recent success with their victory at the Recife Challenge, in March, were the winners in the men’s event, beating Dutch Steven van de Velde and Matthew Immers 2-1 (17-21, 23-21, 15-9) in the gold medal match in front of their home fans.

The triumph in the gold medal match capped off what was already a fantastic day for the Brazilians, who after topping compatriots Andre Loyola and George Wanderley in the semifinals, were confirmed by the Brazilian Volleyball Federation as one of the teams that will represent the country at the Paris 2024 Olympics should they have two spots on the men’s side – currently, both Evandro/Arthur and Andre/George are among the top six teams in the FIVB Olympic Rankings.

“I can’t explain what I feel now,” Arthur reflected. “This is undoubtedly the best day of my life. We love playing in Brazil, it always hits us differently, and the fans in Brasília were amazing the entire week. I still can’t believe everything that happened today.”

Partners since 2023, Evandro, a two-time Olympian, and Arthur have won three Beach Pro Tour titles within the last 13 months and all their victories happened in their home sand – the two also triumphed at last year’s Saquarema Challenge.

Brasília Elite16 – Final Results

The host country got to send a second team to the podium at the Parque da Cidade as Andre and George prevailed over Germans Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler in the tie-breaker (17-21, 21-17, 15-12) to take bronze.

Duda and Ana Patrícia triumph again

The FIVB World Ranking leaders, Duda and Ana Patrícia also got to celebrate their third home title on the Beach Pro Tour – they won Elite16 events held in Uberlândia, in 2022, and João Pessoa, last season.

Undefeated in six matches in Brasília, the 2022 world champions gave no chance to the world No. 2 team of Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, beating the Americans 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) to finish first in the tournament.

“The fans made a big difference for us this week and I’d like to thank each one of them,” Ana Patrícia remarked. “I heard about the passing of my uncle after the semifinal and it was really hard to focus on the final knowing that I’m away when they need me. But the fans pushed me back to the match and this was one of the most amazing feelings I ever had on a volleyball court.”

Swiss qualifiers Esmée Böbner and Zoé Vergé-Dépré completed a vastly successful week in Brazil with their first medals in an Elite16 event – the two topped Dutch Olympians Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam in the tie-breaker (21-15, 13-21, 15-9) to take bronze.

The next Beach Pro our Elite16 event of the season will take place in Espinho, Portugal, later this month, from May 22-26.

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