The last Elite16 event on the 2024 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour is set to take place in the Brazilian megalopolis Rio de Janeiro next week, from Wednesday, November 6, to Sunday, November 10. One of many strong Brazilian pairs, recently shaped up and already trending Thamela Coradello & Victoria Lopes, are set to headline the women’s main draw as the top-seeded team.
Beach Pro Tour
Trending Thamela & Victoria to lead the way at Rio Elite16
The last Elite16 event of the year starts on Wednesday
Published 06:59, 03 Nov 2024
Thamela in action at the Joao Pessoa Elite16
- Watch the Rio de Janeiro Elite16 on VBTV.
24-year-old Thamela and 25-year-old Victoria joined forces earlier this year. So far, they have appeared three times on the Beach Pro Tour, medalled at two of them and triumphed at one. After their debut at the Vienna Elite16 in July, they earned bronze at the Hamburg Elite16 in August and celebrated their first gold a couple of weeks ago, at the Joao Pessoa Elite16 in September, already climbing to the top 40 in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking. At the Rio Elite16, again at home in Brazil, Thamela & Victoria will start their campaign in Pool A in the company of the pairing of Thamela’s former partner Talita Antunes with Taiana Lima, whom they defeated in straight sets in the Joao Pessoa final. Argentina’s team of three-time Olympian Ana Gallay and her current partner Brenda Churin is also set to play in Pool A.
Taiana Lima/Talita vs. Thamela/Victoria - Gold Match Highlights | Joao Pessoa 2024 #BeachProTour
Two Brazilian duos will highlight Pool B as well. The number five in the current World Ranking and second-seeded team of experienced Agatha Bednarczuk, who claimed Olympic silver some eight years ago in Rio, and another Olympian, Rebecca Cavalcanti, will aim at their fourth Beach Pro Tour medal, while compatriots Vitoria Rodrigues & Hegeile Almeida will be targeting their first podium after they teamed up for the start of the 2024 season. 22-year-old NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour stars Allanis Navas & Maria Gonzalez of Puerto Rico will also test their luck in Pool B action.
The world’s current number one team, 37-year-old Barbara Seixas & Carol Solberg of Brazil, headline Pool C. They have already accumulated an impressive collection of 12 Beach Pro Tour medals, half of them gold. They competed together at the Paris 2024 Olympics, while Barbara also has a Rio 2016 Olympic silver (with Agatha) in her showcase. They will start their campaign against Austria’s Dorina Klinger & Ronja Klinger, who have picked up three gold medals at Futures events, but are still looking to leave their mark at the higher Beach Pro Tour levels. Also playing in Pool C, the second highest ranked American pair of Terese Cannon & Megan Kraft will lead the US pack in Rio. They claimed the duo’s first Tour medals at their previous two appearances in Gstaad and Vienna and are certainly keen on making it three in a row.
Cannon & Kraft celebrate their Vienna Elite16 bronze after beating Agatha & Rebecca in the third place match
21-year-old Paris Olympian Valentina Gottardi of Italy will be seeking her first Elite16 medal while appearing on the Tour for the first time in partnership with Reka Orsi Toth, who has already collected eight medals at the Futures level. In Pool D, they will be in the company of Paris Olympians Monika Paulikiene & Aine Raupelyte of Lithuania, number 15 in the World Ranking, and Brazil’s Andressa Cavalcanti & Taina Bigi, who will play together on the Tour for the second time, after their Joao Pessoa debut.
See you in Brazil Aine Raupelyte & Monika Paulikiene 🇱🇹!
— Beach Volleyball World (@BeachVBWorld) October 29, 2024
🔜 The #BeachProTour Elite16 event in Rio 🇧🇷 will take place from November 6 to 10, with Aine & Monika in the Main Draw.
⏰ Info & schedule: https://t.co/wdS3RvwCTg
☀️ #BeachVolleyball pic.twitter.com/SuEBz95JrC
The remaining vacancies in the four pools will be filled by four teams who emerge successfully from Wednesday’s qualifiers. The 16-team qualification bracket is led by USA’s Teegan Van Gunst & Kimberly Hildreth, who also started from the qualifiers in Joao Pessoa, and then made it all the way to the podium with their first Elite16 bronze. There are a number of other well-known names in the qualification line-up, such as Paraguayan Paris 2024 Olympians Giuliana Poletti & Michelle Valiente or the new partnerships of former teammates Karla Borger and Sandra Ittlinger with Hanna-Marie Schieder and with Kim Van de Velde, respectively.
