The final of the second FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 4-star women’s tournament at the Cancun Hub is between Brazil and Russia after Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Svetlana Kholomina/Nadezda Makroguzova advanced to the gold medal match of the event, which will be played on Monday.
The 37-year-old Agatha, a Rio 2016 Olympic medallist, and the 22-year-old Duda, the World Tour’s Most Outstanding Player in 2018 and 2019, are set to become the only team to win medals in all three World Tour events played in 2021 so far. The Brazilians had dominant performances on Sunday as they won both of their matches at the Playa Delfines in straight sets.
In the quarterfinals, Agatha and Duda ousted Austrians Lena Plesiutschnig and Katharina Schutzenhofer 2-0 (21-13, 21-14). In the semifinals, they repeated the score, defeating Dutch veterans Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink also in two sets (21-12, 21-12).
“I think serving well was really important today,” Duda commented. “We had set a strategy with our coach coming up to the game but once we entered the stadium we decided to change it because of the wind and it worked really well for us. We also played as a team and communicated the entire time during the match and that made the difference.”
Agatha hits during the semifinal against Keizer and MeppelinkThe Russians also had a big day and won the two matches they played in two sets as well. Makroguzova, 24, and Kholomina, 23, who are two-time European U22 champions, have now emerged victorious in eight of the nine matches they have played in Cancun so far, losing only to Agatha and Duda in the quarterfinals of the first tournament in Mexico. The Brazilians are the only team to take sets from the Europeans so far.
On Sunday, they continued their great run of form with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-8) quarterfinal win against Germans Karla Borger and Julia Sude and followed that up with another straight-set (22-20, 21-18) victory, this one against Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman.
“We played a really strong team and it was a big win for us,” Makroguzova said after the match. “We spent a lot of time working with our coaches and watching their film so we could come up with a good match plan and we’re pleased with this result.”
The Brazilians have won three of the five matches between the teams but the Russians arguably came out on top in the two most important meetings, an elimination match at the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships and the semifinals of a World Tour 4-star event in Espinho which they went on to win in that same year.
The medal matches of the second tournament of the Cancun Hub will be streamed live on the Beach Volleyball World Youtube channel. Subscribe, log in and set reminders to receive notifications when streams begin.
Go to:
Cancun Hub - 2nd event
Cancun Hub - 2nd event - Match schedule
Provisional Olympic ranking - Men
Provisional Olympic ranking - Women
Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube