Two of the teams that were selected to represent Brazil at the Tokyo Olympics had a victorious weekend in Rio de Janeiro as Evandro Goncalves/Bruno Schmidt and Rebecca Cavalcanti/Ana Patricia Ramos won the ninth and final stop of the 2020-2021 Brazilian Beach Volleyball Tour on Sunday.
Both teams sat out of FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour stops in Sochi, Russia, and Ostrava, Czech Republic, during the last month, to focus on their Olympic preparation. Their decision paid early dividends this week as both Evandro/Bruno and Rebecca Ana Patricia were undefeated in the tournament played in the Urca neighborhood.
Evandro and Bruno, who had last played at the end of April, when they finished 25th in a World Tour event in Cancun, defeated Andre Loyola and George Wanderley 2-0 (21-18, 22-20) in the gold medal match to claim the title.
“This was one of the most special victories I had in my career,” said Bruno, a Rio 2016 Olympic champion. “Everyone watching could tell how special this tournament was for our team. I received a lot of encouraging messages over the last two months and I can’t thank people enough for it. It felt great to be on the court again.”
Andre and George didn’t leave the tournament empty-handed either as the two were officially announced as the 2020-2021 Brazilian Tour season champions, having successfully defended the title they first won in 2019-2020.
Vitor Felipe and Renato Andrew stepped on the podium together for the first time as the Joao Pessoa-natives downed Gustavo ‘Guto’ Carvalhaes and Arthur Mariano in the two-set (21-15, 23-21) bronze medal match.
Ana Patricia and Rebecca celebrate with their coaching staff (Photo: Ana Patricia/Inovafoto/CBV)Rebecca and Ana Patricia, who had also last appeared in Cancun at the end of April, returned to competition in good form as they came from behind to overcome veterans Carolina Salgado and Rio 2016 Olympic silver medalist Barbara Seixas 2-1 (21-23, 26-24, 15-13) to take their place at the top of the podium in Urca.
“This match was a test for our hearts,” Rebecca said at the end of the match. “We played as a team, helping each other the entire time and that was the key. Ana was great with that. I had a few rough moments during the match and she was always there pushing me, which was amazing.”
Elize Maia and Thamela Coradello claimed bronze after they upset Olympians Talita Antunes and Maria Elisa Antonelli 2-0 (21-17, 21-11) to finish third.
Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa, the women’s season winners, and Alison Cerutti/Alvaro Filho didn’t compete in this week’s event. Both teams will be back next weekend for the season-ending tournament Superpraia, which will be held at the same venue.
Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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