Brazil is off to a great start at the A1 Major Vienna presented by Swatch as the country won half of the pools of the women’s tournament advancing four of its five teams directly to the Round of 16 at the Danube Island.
The first Brazilians to top their pool were Ana Patrícia Ramos and Rebecca Cavalcanti, who had a perfect first day in their first appearance at the Vienna Major. After beating Spanish Maria Carro and Paula Soria 21-19, 21-12 on their opening match on Pool C, they followed it up with a 21-12, 21-19 victory over Americans Kelley Larsen and Emily Stockman.
“Debuts are always tough and we struggled a bit against the Spanish in the first set,” Ana Patrícia explained. “But we got into a good rhythm for the second set and managed to keep against the Americans. They had beaten us last week in Tokyo and it was nice to make things even here.”
Carolina Salgado and Maria Elisa Antonelli also won both of their Pool F matches without dropping sets, but they had a much harder life than their compatriots. The veterans, who started in qualification, downed Germans Victoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider 27-25, 21-16 in the morning and came out on top of another tough duel in the afternoon, when they ousted Canadians Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson 26-24, 24-22.
“It was a very good day for us,” Antonelli reflected. “Both teams we played are really strong and I’m really proud of the way we played. Now we’re one step ahead from several of our opponents and we’ll have a day off to rest, study and take care of our bodies and minds so hopefully we can come back even stronger on Friday.”
