Mol and Sørum repeat as Saquarema Elite champions

Saquarema continues to be a happy place for Norwegian superstars Anders Mol and Christian Sørum, who are set to return home from the Brazilian coastal city with gold medals won in a Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite event for a second-straight season.

The Tokyo Olympic champions won the second Elite event of the 2026 season, which came to an end on Sunday, repeating the success they had achieved in 2025. The women's champions were American Olympians Taryn Brasher and Kristen Cruz, who also have very positive results playing in the South American country.

• Watch the Saquarema Elite replays on VBTV

By taking the title in Saquarema on Sunday, Mol and Sørum continue what has become a pleasant tradition for them of winning Beach Pro Tour Elite events in Brazil, triumphing in the country for a third-straight season after victories in João Pessoa in 2024 and Saquarema in 2025.

Brazil became a special place for the Norwegian stars much earlier, however, as it was where they won their first-ever international medal after finishing second in an FIVB World Tour tournament in Itapema in 2018.

Competing for the first time in the 2026 season, the Beach Volley Vikings won six of their seven matches over the week in Saquarema and claimed the title after taking down the 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship silver medalists Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson of Sweden in the two-set (21-16, 23-21) gold medal match.

"We've loved every second here," Mol said. "It's so nice to play here in Saquarema. It's a beautiful place, and the crowd is incredible. We played our best volleyball today and fought hard, because Sweden gave us a really tough match, as we expected. We're really happy to have won here in Saquarema again."

The men's podium in Saquarema was completed by Latvians Martins Plavins, a London 2012 Olympic medalist, and Kristians Fokerots, who defeated French Rémi Daubas and Calvin Aye in the tie-breaker (21-16, 17-21, 15-13) in the bronze medal match.

Beach Pro Tour Saquarema Elite - Results

Brasher and Cruz win fourth gold in Brazil

The women's champions, American Olympians Brasher and Cruz have even more success in Brazil, having won four gold medals in nine tournaments played in the country.

With their victory in Saquarema, they triumphed in a fourth different Brazilian city in three years, following victories in Uberlândia in 2023, Brasília in 2025 and João Pessoa last month.

With 12 medals won in their last 15 international events, Brasher and Cruz capped off their undefeated campaign in Saquarema with a straight-set (21-15, 21-15) victory over Paris Olympic silver medalists Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada in the gold medal match on Sunday.

"We just look at each other and trust each other every single time," Cruz said. "It doesn't matter what the score is, it's always 0-0 for us. And we just trust our training and know that when we get out on the court, we'll be able to compete. It's all about trust and all about our training."

Playing together for the first time since August 2024, Swiss Olympic medalists Nina Brunner, who returned to action after becoming a mother, and Tanja Hüberli crowned their reunion with a third-place finish in Saquarema.

The Europeans defeated the home team of Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti in two sets (22-20, 21-11) in the bronze medal match, securing a podium finish in Saquarema.

The next Elite event of the Beach Pro Tour will also be held in Brazil, with the country's capital Brasília hosting the third of four tournaments of this category set to take place in Brazilian sand in 2026 from April 29 to May 3.

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