No place like Curitiba for Juliana. Photocredit: CBV

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The medalists celebrate in Curbitiba

Brazilian beach volleyball star Juliana Felisberta had one more reason to celebrate in Curitiba this weekend as the eight-time Swatch FIVB World Tour champion teamed up with Taiana Lima to win the fourth tournament of the Brazilian national tour by defeating Rebecca Silva and Elize Maia in straight sets (21-15, 21-16).

The victory reinforced the prolific relationship the London 2012 bronze medalist has with the city, the place where she first advanced from the qualifiers to play in the main draw of the Brazilian Tour over a decade ago. It was the fifth time Juliana won gold in Curitiba, drawing her record in the city level with former partner Larissa Franca, who finished fourth alongside Talita Antunes after being defeated by Agatha Berdnaczuk and Carolina Salgado.

“It is a really special relationship to me. Every time I play here, I make it to the finals,” said Juliana. “The fans are very warming and the city is beautiful. Taiana and I felt we deserved to be in the final before this season, but we waited until our moment arrived and we are very proud about what we did here.”

Larissa and Talita still lead the tour with 1.480 points after four stops. Juliana and Taiana follow with 1.240, while Elize and Rebecca are third with 1.080.

In the men’s tournament, Alvaro Filho and Saymon Barbosa surprised Swatch World Tour Finals champions and Olympic heroes Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt to win gold in a highly-contested three-set battle (22-20, 19-21, 15-13).

The bronze medal was awarded to Alvaro and Saymon’s training partners Vitor Felipe and Jô Gomes, who defeated Leonardo Santos and Rhooney Ferramenta in two sets (21-17, 21-15).

“I am really excited. It’s a pleasure playing with Saymon and very rewarding defeating Alison and Bruno, who are true examples for us,” said Alvaro. “The other teams who practice with also did very well in this tournament and we can only thank our sponsors and everyone that supports our project.”

The duo leads the standings of the 2016-2017 season with 1.520 points and a reasonable advantage to second placed Ricardo Santos/Andre Stein (1.1.60) and third places Pedro Solberg and Evandro Junior (1.080).

The fifth stop of the Brazilian Tour will be disputed in Sao Jose, Santa Catarina, between 8-11 December.

This will be the last event of the year in the national schedule. The four remaining tournaments will be disputed in 2017.

And then the important business kicks in on the international scene with the Fort Lauderdale Major kicking off the season in February.