Stoyanovskiy/Krasilnikov and Rebecca/Ana Patricia topped the podium at the Dutch tournament

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Stoyanovskiy and Krasilnikov make a toast to celebrate their first victory together (Photocredit: FIVB)

Teams from Russia and Brazil remained in great form at the first World Tour event of 2019 as Oleg Stoyanovskiy/Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Rebecca Silva/Ana Patricia Ramos claimed the gold medals of the four-star tournament played at the indoor courts of the Dutch city of the Hague this weekend and took home 800 points to add to their Olympic rankings.

It was the first gold medal for the Russians in just three tournaments playing together. The 22-year-old and the 27-year-old Krasilnikov have now reached the podium in each of them, getting silver in Yangzhou and bronze in Las Vegas after they joined forces at the beginning of September.

Beachvolleybal on Twitter

🏐 | Een belangrijke overwinning voor Stoyanovskiy/Krasilnikov! 🥇👏🏼 Op naar de rest van het seizoen! 💪🏼 #DELABeachOpen https://t.co/oga3AdhrWX

To secure their first title together, Stoyanovskiy and Krasilnikov had to beat another up-and-coming tandem, the one of Germans Julius Thole and Clemens Wickler, who notched a semifinal appearance at last year’s World Tour Finals in Hamburg. The Russians needed two sets (21-11, 21-18) to triumph and celebrate their victory.

“The Germans are great servers and they put pressure on us during the entire game, but we managed to find a way to win,” Stoyanovskiy explained. “My time with Viacheslav has been unbelievable. Every training session and every tournament has been amazing so far, he’s the best. It’s a great feeling to win our first gold, but we don’t have much time to celebrate. We’re going to Tenerife to continue working hard.”

Another Russian team claimed bronze with Krasilnikov’s former partner Konstantin Semenov and defender Ilya Leshukov securing their fourth medal together with a three-set (21-17, 14-21, 15-12) win over the home team of Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen.

Rebecca and Ana Patricia win second gold

In the women’s final, the 20-year-old Ana Patricia, the most promising young player in Brazil, and the 25-year-old Rebecca dominated Americans Kelly Claes, 23, and Sarah Sponcil, 22, who are enjoying a good start of partnership, to win 21-10, 21-19 in the Dutch coastal city.

The Brazilians have been in the final in three of the last four World Tour events they competed at, winning gold in Qinzhou and silver in Yangzhou, both in China. They were fourth in Las Vegas.

“We barely took time off at the end of last year and our hard work has paid off,” Ana Patricia said. “This was a hard tournament for us because we had never played indoors before, but we stuck together. It’s our first gold medal in a four-star event and it’s also our coach’s (Reis Castro) birthday, which makes it even more special.”

CAMPEÃS ! Ana Patrícia e Rebecca conquistaram o título da etapa da Holanda do Circuito Mundial de vôlei de praia 2019. Elas venceram na final as norte-americanas Sarah Sponcil e Kelly Claes por 2 sets a 0 (21/10, 21/18). De quebra, presente para Reis Castro, técnico da dupla que completa 49 anos neste domingo. Parabéns, galera! #TorcidaBrasil #BancodoBrasil #grupocimed #cimedesportes #AsicsVolleyball #imoveme #mikasabrasil

2,304 Likes, 28 Comments - Conf. Brasileira de Voleibol (@cbvolei) on Instagram: "CAMPEÃS ! Ana Patrícia e Rebecca conquistaram o título da etapa da Holanda do Circuito Mundial de..."

Finland’s Taru Lahti and Anniina Parkkinen took down last year’s champions April Ross and Alix Klineman of the United States in three sets (15-21, 21-13, 15-6) to win bronze, their second World Tour medal as a team – the Finnish claimed silver last year in Tokyo.

The next World Tour event will be a women-only two-star tournament in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from February 21-24.