Swiss Olympians Anouk Verge-Depre & Zoe Verge-Depre, who have medaled at four of their six most recent Tour appearances and currently stand sixth in the World Ranking, will lead Pool C. The other two teams that are known in this pool and will start against one another are French Olympians Clemence Vieira & Aline Chamereau and Italy’s Claudia Scampoli & Giada Bianchi.
Reigning world champion Kelly Cheng’s current team with Molly Shaw, who scored their first Beach Pro Tour gold in Joao Pessoa on Sunday, will get their Rio campaign underway in Pool D. In their opening game, the American pair will meet Brazil’s Vitoria Rodrigues & Hegeile Almeida. The pool is headlined by the world’s number five Valentina Gottardi & Reka Orsi Toth of Italy. They rejoin the Tour after snatching their first gold together at their previous appearance at the Hamburg Elite in August.
Just two of the participants are known in Pool F. Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes & Brandie Wilkerson of Canada will try to get back on the winning track after claiming the Montreal Elite gold at home last month. Experienced Brazilians Talita Antunes & Taiana Lima, both in their 40s, will be aiming at their first Beach Pro Tour podium of the year.
A single round of eight women’s qualification matches, serving off at 11:20 local time (14:20 UTC) on Wednesday, will fill the eight remaining main draw vacancies. The qualifier bracket is also filled with strong contestants, including several participants in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games – Lithuania’s Monika Paulikiene & Aine Raupelyte, France’s Lezana Placette & Alexia Richard and Netherlands’ Katja Stam & Raisa Schoon. Three-time Olympian and Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Taliqua Clancy of Australia will also compete in the qualifiers, along with current partner Jana Milutinovic. Paris 2024 Olympian Marie-Sara Stochlova of Czechia and her current teammate Marketa Svozilova, on the other hand, are seeded top of the qualification bracket.
Once the main draw serves off on Thursday morning, modified pool play format will determine the three teams per pool that will advance to the elimination rounds, which will eventually lead to Sunday’s medal matches in Rio de Janeiro.
