2016-03-18 12:05:00 CET
Vitoria Open, on the way to the top
Vitoria Open is slowly heading toward its conclusion with both gender final matches scheduled to take place on Sunday.
Already a few athletes have been sent home after being eliminated during the pool matches, while the rest will be fighting tooth and nail for a podium place at the tournament.
Moving to Round 2 is Swatch World Tour Finals winners: Larissa/Talita, along with Germans: Borger/Büthe and recent Rio Grand Slam winners: Ross/Walsh.
Still gunning for a spot in Round 2 is Eduarda “Duda” Lisboa and Elize Maia who won the Maceio Open earlier this year. They go up against Russians: Abalakina/Syrtseva at 11:00 (GMT-3).
Kessy/Day from the USA are also playing an elimination match against: Lehtonen/Lahti from Finland. The Finnish team are yet to win or receive a podium place at an FIVB Open or a Grand Slam – this is a chance for the ladies to advance and beat the US podium regulars.
Already securing a place in Round 2 for the male gender are FIVB World Champions: Alison/Bruno Schmidt, Italy’s Ranghieri/Carambula and Nicolai/Lupo.
Still to qualify include new partners: Ricardo/Álvaro Filho from Brazil, recent Rio Grand Slam winners Losiak/Kantor and not forgetting to mention Brouwer/Meeuwsen all the way from the Netherlands – they are a long way from home and most definitely don’t want to board a plane back without something to show for their efforts, a gold medal is the best souvenir a team could take back from a trip to Brazil.
Lots of action at the Vitoria Grand Slam. Stay tuned at swatchmajorseries.com.