Paraguayans strike historic South American Tour gold

Gonzalo Melgarejo and Roger Battilana caused a major upset at the fourth stop on the 2021-2022 South American Tour in Vina del Mar, Chile. The Paraguayans became the first men's pair from their country to win a continental tour gold medal.

Melgarejo and Battilana, who had taken bronze at the third stop in Montevideo last month, had a tough task ahead of them on Sunday as they made it to the semifinals of the men’s tournament alongside three teams that will compete in the inaugural season of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, which starts in March.

The 21-year-old Melgarejo, who appeared in FIVB Youth World Championships in 2018 and 2019, and the 29-year-old Battilana, who competed in a pair of international events in 2017, started the day well, knocking out Chilean cousins and two-time Olympians Marco and Esteban Grimalt in three sets (17-21, 21-15, 15-9). In the final, the Paraguayans prevailed in another three-setter (16-21, 21-19, 15-11), again coming back from a set down to defeat new Argentinean team Nicolas Capogrosso, a Tokyo Olympian, and his brother Nicolas.

“It’s hard to describe my emotions,” Melgarejo reacted. “It’s the first time Paraguay win a gold medal. Until yesterday, it was a dream. Now it’s an achieved goal. We’re just starting and there’s still a lot of work to be done. The Argentineans are both really tall and we had to give everything we had.”

Returning to the sand for the first time since the Tokyo Games, Rio 2016 Olympic champion Bruno Schmidt took bronze in his first tournament with new partner Saymon Barbosa. The Brazilians defeated the Grimalts in straight sets (21-19, 21-14) to finish third in Vina del Mar.

Brazil took gold in the women’s tournament with Taina Bigi and Victoria Lopes defeating another Paraguayan team, Erika Bobadilla and Gabriela Filippo, in the two-set (21-15, 22-20) final. Bronze went to Chileans Francisca Rivas Zapata and Chris Vorpahl, who prevailed over Paraguayans Janina Ocampos and Laura Ovelar 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) to secure third place.

“We’re really happy with our performance in this tournament,” Taina commented. “It’s always nice playing in Chile, where people love beach volleyball. To make it to the final and take gold, I have no words. We’re here representing Brazil and we always want to stand on the highest step on the podium.”

The fifth event of the 2021-2022 South American Tour will take place in Mollendo, Peru, from March 4-6.