World Ranking leaders triumph at Beach Pro Tour Brasília Elite

Lifted to the top of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Rankings in April, Brazil's Carol Salgado/Rebecca Cavalcanti and Sweden's Jacob Hölting Nilsson/Elmer Andersson further solidified their spots this week in Brazil.

South Americans and Europeans triumphed in the third Elite event of the 2026 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour season, making it to the top of the podium in the country's capital Brasília, which hosted the third tournament of that category in Brazil.

• Watch the Brasília Elite replays on VBTV

Olympians Carol and Rebecca, who entered the week sharing the top spot in the World Rankings with compatriots Thâmela Coradello and Victoria Lopes with 7,800 points, got to celebrate their third Beach Pro Tour victory in Brazilian sand within the last nine months - they won in Rio de Janeiro in September 2025 and in Itapema in December.

The 38-year-old blocker and the 33-year-old defender made it to the top of the podium in Brasília after finishing second in 2025 with an undefeated campaign of seven victories, which was capped off with a sweep (21-14, 21-18) of Italians Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth on Sunday's gold medal match.

"We had to be very strong to win the second set," Rebecca said. "We slowed down after winning the first set, and we wanted to avoid the tie-breaker at all costs. We were very focused on each point to make sure we would take any opportunities we had in that second set."

Partners since 2025, the Brazilians now have four golds and six medals (one silver, one bronze) in 15 Beach Pro Tour events together.

Also making it to the women's podium in Brasília were American qualifiers Savvy Simo and Devon Newberry, who needed to play eight matches in five days in Brazil to win bronze in their third tournament as partners.

The Americans had a remarkable run in Brasília, beating Olympic champions Eduarda 'Duda' Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos of Brazil in the Round of 16 and reigning world champions Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova of Latvia in straight sets (21-15, 21-19) on Sunday's bronze medal match.

Swedish win first gold of the year

Last year's World Championship runners-up Hölting Nilsson and Andersson, who have 8,260 World Ranking points, secured their first victory of the season this weekend in Brazil.

The Swedish had an impeccable six-match run in Brasília and completed it with a sweep (21-16, 21-15) of Polish Olympians Michal Bryl and Bartosz Łosiak in the gold medal match to claim the title.

"This victory helps us establish ourselves and shows that we didn't get to the top of the Rankings by chance," Andersson remarked. "All the best teams were here, and we made it to the top. It's a really nice feeling to win here in Brasília."

With this weekend's result, Hölting Nilsson and Andersson now have 12 medals (seven gold, four silver, one bronze) in 25 international events since the 2024 season.

Latvians Martins Plavins and Kristian Fokerots were the third men's team on the podium in Brasília. They topped Franch Téo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) in the bronze medal match and made their second-straight podium appearance in Brazil after also finishing third in Saquarema last month.

Beach Pro Tour Brasília Elite - Tournament Results

The next Elite event of the 2026 Beach Pro Tour season will take place in Ostrava, Czechia, from May 27-31. Next week, from May 7-10, a men's Futures tournament will be held in Madrid.

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