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Dear Beach Volleyball Community


The ACTS Group is in the preparation progress for the next tournament in Vienna in 2022. For all beach news, all information about the A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley 2021 presented by Swatch and a preview to our next event click here:


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See you @ the beach!

2016-04-28 17:06:00 CET

Favourites fall as underdogs up the ante!

Up and down day for Brazil in Fortaleza

Norwegian Morten Kvamsdal, pictured here at the Stavanger Major last year, has already earned a surprise victory in Fortaleza. Photo credit: Samo Vidic.Norwegian Morten Kvamsdal, pictured here at the Stavanger Major last year, has already earned a surprise victory in Fortaleza. Photo credit: Samo Vidic.

We’re just two days into the action at the Fortaleza Open but there have already been two massive shocks on the sand in South America!

Perhaps the biggest upset so far came on the first day of pool play when Norwegian pair Morten Kvamsdal and Christian Sørum toppled top seeds and home favorites Pedro Salgado and Evandro Goncalves (BRA).

Goncalves, the feature of our Tuesday’s Talent, and partner Salgado looked in cruise control against their opponents who are playing in only their seventh world tour event as a team.

As, in a remarkable turn of events, it was the Brazilians that took the first set. The odds would have been heavily stacked against the young Norwegians but they stormed back to take the final two sets 21-15 and 17-15. Take that!

It was ironic that the Brazilians were on the receiving end of such a shock result, as earlier on the same day the home nation were celebrating an unexpected victory as underdogs!

Mexican pair Ontiveros Lombardo and Juan Virgen have been in tip-top form recently, grabbing bronze in Xiamen two weeks ago. They’re third seeds here in Fortaleza but in their opening pool fixture they were beaten by Brazilians George Souto Wanderley and Joalisson Gomes. There was no messing about either, as the host team coasted to victory inside just over half-an-hour’s play.

However, it’s been a different story for second seeds Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson – the Americans have eased effortlessly to two successive pool wins to put them in reach of the second round.

And the same can be said for veteran Marcio Ararujo in his final fling in the world of beach volleyball. The 42-year-old and partner Luciano Ferreira have begun the tournament in some style with Araujo aiming to go out with a bang in his last ever tournament in his home town. The duo have won both pool matches so far, including an outstanding win over eighth seeds from Canada Grant O’Gorman and Sam Pedlow.

Meanwhile the women kick-off their pool stages on Thursday – and following the crazy results in the men’s section, world champions and number one seeds Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas (BRA) will need to be on their toes to avoid any embarrassing moments like their male counterparts!

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