Carol/Maria Antonelli and Agatha/Duda set to compete for the title in the last tournament of the season

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Duda and Carol are fighting for their first national titles (Photocredit: CBV)

It went down to the last tournament, but the women’s champions of the 2017-2018 season of the Brazilian beach volleyball tour will be known no later than this weekend as the city of Aracaju hosts the final event of the competition.

The teams of Carol Solberg/Maria Antonelli and Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa are the ones still in contention for the points title of the season. Both duos have collected 2.040 points so far, but considering the fact that the worst finish of each of them will be discarded for the final ranking, Carol and Antonelli have the upper hand entering the tournament in Aracaju.

The tandem, formed during 2017, need to finish third to take the title home regardless of Agatha/Duda’s final position. If Carol and Antonelli finish lower than third, they will need their rivals to be no more than two positions better than them in Aracaju.

Último treino no Rio de Janeiro concluído e amanhã partiu Aracaju. Grandes desafios na bagagem, mas muita união e confiança no nosso time. Contamos com a torcida, energia e carinho de vocês!!! #CarolSolbergeMariaElisa #VôleiDePraia #BeachVolleyball #CBV #FIVB #cimedesportes #voxxsuplementos #Cervejariumribeiraopreto #LaCariocaCevicheria

329 Likes, 6 Comments - CarolSolbergeMariaElisa (@carolsolbergemariaelisa) on Instagram: "Último treino no Rio de Janeiro concluído e amanhã partiu Aracaju. Grandes desafios na bagagem, mas..."

Despite of entering the tournament in disadvantage, Duda has a powerful weapon to turn things around. Born in São Cristovão, a town located less than 30km away from Aracaju, the 19-year-old defender and Agatha will have huge support coming from the stands.

"It's always great to play at home, you can feel a different energy coming from the fans," Duda said. "And the possibility of us winning the Tour here is amazing, but at the same it's something we're trying to keep in the back of our minds. We know we'll need to win some very hard matches and that we are competing agaisnt a very good team. We know what we have to do, we prepared well for that and hopefully things come out the way we need."

The women’s main draw is set to start on Friday and, besides of Carol/Maria Antonelli and Agatha/Duda, other World Tour regulars, such as Fernanda Berti/Barbara Seixas, Carol Horta/Taiana Lima and Josi Alves/Lili Maestrini will also be competing. The gold medal match will happen on Saturday.

The men’s title was decided last week, when reigning world champions Evandro Goncalves and Andre Loyola were declared the champions. They will compete in Aracaju, such as other Brazilian top teams, including Alison Cerutti/Bruno Schmidt, Vitor Felipe/Guto Carvalhaes, Pedro Solberg/George Wanderley and Alvaro Filho/Saymon Barbosa.

The men’s tournament starts on Thursday with 24 teams competing. The final will take place on Saturday.