Brazil reign supreme in Under-21 World Championships

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Brazil’s George Souto Maior Wanderley and Arthur Diego Mariano Lanci show off their gold medals in Lucerne. Photo credit: FIVB.

With the Olympic Games taking place on their iconic Copacabana beach this summer and with their senior stars continuing to lead the way in the rankings, can beach volleyball get any better for Brazil?

In a word: yes.

It sure can, and it certainly did this weekend at the Under-21 World Championships in Lucerne as Brazil stormed to two gold medals to send out a warning to the rest of the beach volleyball world.

It took a little over an hour, but after those short 60 minutes the future of beach volleyball in Brazil looks even brighter in the wake of two outstanding and dominant victories by two of its most precocious teams. 

In the men’s tournament George Souto Maior Wanderley and Arthur Diego Mariano Lanci brushed aside the Mexican challenge of Josue Gaston Gaxiola Leyva and Jose Luis Rubio Camargo in straight sets, winning 21-17, 22-20 in 37 minutes.

And if you think that was quick – think again. Brazil’s 17-year-old superstars Eduarda Santos Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Silva Ramos became champions after just 33 minutes on the sand against Russians Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina.

Eduarda Santos Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Silva Ramos made it two golds out of two for Brazil at the Under-21 World Championships. Photo credit: FIVB.

Did you read our preview piece on swatchmajorseries.com last week? Well don’t say we didn’t warn you about the prospects of both of the Brazilian pairs who went on to win gold!

In the battles for bronze and the honor of third place in the championships, Venezuelan duo José ‘Tigrito’ Gomez and Rolando ‘Peter’ Hernandez caused an upset to beat fourth seeds Anders Berntsen Mol and Mathias Berntsen from Norway in the men’s third place match.

There was a real humdinger in the women’s bronze medal match as third seeds Sarah Sponcil and Torrey Van Winden (USA) took on second seeds Megan and Nicole McNamara (CAN). The Americans took the first set 21-18 but the Canadian Youth Olympic champions hit back and triumphed in the final two sets to secure bronze in style in an epic 48-minute match.

The future is certainly bright – and we can’t wait to see them in action at a Major of ours in the not-too-distance future.