Elite16 - João Pessoa, BRA - 2024

Brazilians and Americans to fight for the medals in João Pessoa

Talita/Taiana and Thamela/Victoria represent the hosts, while Hildreth/Van Gunst and Denaburg/Kraft remain alive for the North Americans

Published 11:40, 19 Oct 2024

Thamela and Victoria were the only semifinalists to win two matches on Saturday

Two teams from hosts Brazil and another two from beach volleyball powerhouse the United States will play for the medals of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour João Pessoa Elite16 on Sunday.

USA’s Kimberly Hildreth/Teegan Van Gunst and Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Taiana Lima will open the semifinals at 10:00 local time (13:00 GMT), with the duel between Americans Lexy Denaburg and Deahna Kraft and Brazilians Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes following one hour later. The gold medal match will begin at 17:00 local time (20:00 GMT), two hours after the battle for bronze.

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Thamela and Victoria, who won bronze in just their second tournament as partners, August’s Hamburg Elite16, had the longest route to the Final Four among all semifinalists, having to win a pair of elimination rounds on Saturday.

The Brazilians started the day in the Round of 12, where they overcame the Austrian Klinger sisters Ronja and Dorina in the tie-breaker (21-15, 19-21, 15-12). Later, in the quarterfinals, they had a smoother victory against Germans Sandra Ittlinger and Kim Van de Velde, triumphing in two sets (21-13, 21-18).

Denaburg and Kraft had just one match on Saturday, but it was an intense one as the Americans earned a hard-fought, three-set (21-18, 19-21, 15-13) battle against Brazilians Vitoria Rodrigues and Hegeile ‘Hege’ Almeida to remain undefeated in the tournament.

Beach Pro Tour João Pessoa Elite16 – Match Schedule & Results

Talita and Talita win Brazilian duel

To make it to the semifinals in João Pessoa and be able to fight for their second medal in the season after taking bronze in the Saquarema Challenge back in March, the 42-year-old Talita and the 40-year-old Taiana had to win a domestic battle with Andressa Cavalcanti and Tainá Bigi in the tie-breaker (19-21, 22-20, 15-12) in the quarterfinals.

Talita attempts to block Andressa in the All-Brazilians quarterfinal

Their opponents Hildreth and Van Gunst also played just one match in the fifth day of action in Brazil and got the better of the home team formed by Olympians Ágatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti in straight sets (21-19, 21-19) in the quarterfinals. They are now set to appear in the semifinals of a Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event for the first time.