Playing together for the first time, Wang and Wen were the champions in the two-star tournament

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Jingzhe Wang spikes in the All-Chinese gold medal match in Zhongwei (Photocredit: FIVB)

Debuting Jingzhe Wang and her partner Shuhui Wen gave China a home gold medal in the World Tour as the two topped the podium at the two-star women-only event played in Zhongwei this weekend.

The 21-year-old Wang and the 24-year-old Wen, who were playing their first tournament together, came out on top of the all-Chinese final as they defeated Olympic medalist Chen Xue, who made her return to the courts after more than an year, and Rio 2016 Olympian Fan Wang in straight sets (21-14, 26-24).

Brazilians Maria Clara Salgado and Elize Maia Secomandi won their first medal as a team as they prevailed over another Chinese tandem, the one of Meimei Lin and Zingdi Zhu, in the two-set (21-18, 21-18) in the bronze medal match.

Bronze na China! Primeira medalha do nosso time, em um torneio tão importante pra gente. Muito muito feliz! Parabéns @elizemaia 👊🏼 jogou muito parceira! Infelizmente estamos sem patrocinadores e não pudemos trazer nossa comissão técnica para essa etapa mas queria muito agradecer a eles que dão o gás diariamente pra deixar a gente pronta pra enfrentar qualquer parada. Obrigada @letbrasil @marloscogoperformance @eduardodeoramos @jplima91 @gutto_acb e @vidal_fisio. Juntos vamos trabalhar muito pra buscar grandes resultados🔥🤘🏼! #Bronze it is 🙌🏼! So happy for our first medal together and even more for those 4 main drawn spots we guaranteed with those fivb points. We knew we needed to be in the podium and we made it happen! So proud of my partner for how great she played and thankful for a strong crew back home, that works hard everyday to make this possible! #timeBrasil #voleidepraia #beachvolleyball #athlete #China #zhongwei #atleta #volei #Brasil

344 Likes, 29 Comments - Maria Clara Salgado (@mariaclarasalgado) on Instagram: "Bronze na China! Primeira medalha do nosso time, em um torneio tão importante pra gente. Muito..."

The World Tour continues in the end of the month, with a double-gender three-star tournament taking place in Qinzhou, China.

Ana Patrícia/Rebecca and Hevaldo/Arthur on top in the Brazilian Tour

To compete in Zhongwei, Maria Clara and Elize Maia had to miss the opening event of the 2018-2019 season of the Brazilian Tour, which took place in Palmas. Ana Patrícia Ramos/Rebecca Silva and Hevaldo Sabino/Arthur Lanci were the winners.

In the women’s event, Rebecca and Ana Patrícia needed all three sets (21-17, 17-21, 15-10) to top youngsters Taina Bigi and Victoria Lopes. Bárbara Seixas and Fernanda Berti, the winners of the Fort Lauderdale Major, claimed bronze with a 21-16, 21-12 victory over Olympic medalist Juliana Felisberta and her partner Andressa Cavalcanti.

The women's podium in Palmas (Photocredit: CBV)

“This gold medal gives us a huge motivation to keep working,” the 20-year-old, 1.94m-tall Ana Patrícia commented. “We want to be consistent because that’s what will make us reach our goals. That’s our focus.”

Among the men, Hevaldo and Artur denied Olympic champion Alison Cerutti and world champion André Loyola their first gold medal as a team as they dominated the tournament with a straight-set victory (21-19, 21-15) in the gold medal match. Thiago Barbosa and George Wanderley were third after they beat Eduardo Davi and Adrielson dos Santos in two sets (21-19, 21-19) in the bronze medal match.

“It’s great to start the season winning”, said the 22-year-old Arthur, an Under-19 and Under-21 world champion. “Our team was very solid during the tournament and especially in the final. We have good chemistry together and we’re happy to end the week with reason to celebrate.”

Artur Lanci and Alison during the men's final (Photocredit: CBV)

The second tournament of the Brazilian Tour will be played in Vila Velha, Espírito Santo, from October 24-28.