Agatha/Duda and Evandro/Andre prevailed in the World Tour four-star event in Itapema

• Facebook
• Twitter

Agatha, Duda, Andre and Evandro pode together in the podium in Itapema (Photocredit: FIVB)

The Brazilian teams of Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa and Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola made the most of their home court advantage to top the podium at the World Tour four star event in Itapema, Brazil, this weekend.

Agatha and Duda, the silver medalists of last year’s World Tour Finals, returned to the international podium for the first time since last August as they defeated Swiss stars Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joana Heidrich in straight sets (21-19, 21-17) in the final in Itapema.

“We were not happy at all with our results this year and to win this gold medal is a relief, especially with it happening in Brazil,” Duda commented. “We were putting a lot of pressure on us because of the results and that was frustrating us a lot. But it’s gone now. We had a very solid week here and we hope it ignites us to win more medals in the next tournaments.”

Ouro Itapema 4⭐️🥇🏆🇧🇷 #timeagathaeduda #timenissan #atletaszinzane #marinabarraclube #bodytechcitta #marinhadobrasil #redbull #uvline #oakley #oakleybrasil #uselesaint #lesaint #teamON #TimeTop2020 #zinzane #juntossomosmaisfortes #bolsaatleta #todentro #claro #embratel #voleidepraiaRJ #esporteRio #exercitobrasileiro #beachworldtour #Itapema @uvlineoficial @oakleybr @minesporte

410 Likes, 16 Comments - Ágatha e Duda (@timeagathaeduda) on Instagram: "Ouro Itapema 4⭐️🥇🏆🇧🇷 #timeagathaeduda #timenissan #atletaszinzane #marinabarraclube #bodytechcitta..."

The bronze medal went to Canadians Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson, who defeated Brazilians Maria Elisa Antonelli and Carol Solberg. It was the first medal for both the team and Wilkerson, who joined the World Tour in 2014.

In the men’s tournament, the world champions Andre and Evandro used their experience to stop the most surprising team of the tournament, Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, with a two set victory (21-18, 21-16) in the final.

It was the first gold for the Brazilians since last year’s triumph in Vienna and the second medal in the season, following the silver in Huntington Beach two weeks ago.

“Consistency is the most important word for us now,” Evandro said. “We’re pleased by what we did over these past weeks, but we want to keep doing it all year-long as our goal is to win the World Tour again. It was the first time for me winning an international event in Brazil and it was fantastic.”

CAMPEÕES DO MUNDIAL EM ITAPEMA 🇧🇷🏆 Brasil no topo do pódio!! Estamos muito felizes por ter ganhado essa etapa em casa, a semana foi incrível! Saímos invictos da competição sem perder nenhum set! 😱 Mérito da nossa equipe! Estamos evoluindo juntos e conquistando nossos objetivos! Obrigado a todos que torceram! 🇧🇷❤️ @evandroeandreoficial . . #volei #voleidepraia #volleyball #beachvolleyball #cbv #fivb #timebrasil #worldtour #itapema #ouro #podio #campeoes #ctleblon #prefeituradorio #congeladosdasonia #bolsapódio #cimedesportes #cimedsemlimites #marinhadobrasil @cbvolei @fivbvolleyball @prefeituradeitapema @cimedesportes @marinhaoficial

165 Likes, 8 Comments - André Stein (@andrelstein) on Instagram: "CAMPEÕES DO MUNDIAL EM ITAPEMA 🇧🇷🏆 Brasil no topo do pódio!! Estamos muito felizes por ter ganhado..."

Poland’s Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak frustrated the home fans in the bronze medal match as they left Guto Carvalhaes and Vitor Felipe out of the podium. It was the third straight medal won by the Polish in Brazil.

Historic medals in Turkey

Turkey also hosted a World Tour stop this weekend, but a one-star tournament in the city of Aydin. The event became a historic one as teams from Cuba and Serbia won the first gold medals of their countries’ histories in the competition.

In the women’s tournament, Cubans Leila Martinez and Mailen Tamayo topped the podium as they prevailed over Russia’s Ksenia Dabizha and Daria Mastikova. Swedish twins Kristina Thurin and Susanna Thurin won bronze.

In the men’s event, it was the rising beach volleyball of Serbia to thrive with Stefan Basta and Lazar Kolaric being crowned in Aydin. Iran’s Rahman Raoufi and Abolhamed Mirzaali won silver and Russia’s Ruslan Bykanov and Maksim Hudyakov completed the podium with the bronze medal.

The World Tour remains in Brazil for another week as the city of Miguel Pereira, in Rio de Janeiro, will host a one-star tournament from May 24-27.

Foreigners dominate Swiss Tour

With the top home teams competing overseas, foreginers dominated the second event of the Swiss National Tour in Genf as tandems from other European countries, which competed via wildcards, took home the gold medas in both genders.

Among the men, Austrians Christoph Dressler and Robin Seild triumphed as they defeated Germans Sebastian Fuchs and Mischa Urbatzka in the final. Florian Breer and Yves Haussener claimed bronze after they prevailed in an all-Swiss match against Jonas Kissling and Mats Kovatsch.

In the women's tournament, the Dutch team of Laura Bloem and Jolien Sinnema came out on top the gold medal match three-set battle with Canadians Sophie Bukovec and Julie Gordon. Swiss Zoé Vergé-Dépré paired with Dutch Pleun Ypma to win bronze as they defeated the local team of Fabienne Geiger and Anja Licka.

The third stop of the Swiss Tour will happen in Olten from May 31 to June 3.