Beach volleyball is back in Brazil after six months and reigning national champions and international stars Rebecca Cavalcanti and Ana Patricia Ramos picked up right where the left off as the duo won the restarting tournament of the country this weekend in the city of Saquarema.
The tournament was held in the bubble system and the Brazilian Federation’s training center located just outside of Rio de Janeiro was the stage selected for the return. The event had a 16-team main draw and only the women playing in the opening week.
Rebecca and Ana Patricia, who had secured their first national title together right after play was interrupted in March, came back to the sand firing all cylinders as they had the upper hand in the much-anticipated gold medal match against Agatha Bednarczuk and Duda Lisboa.
Both teams have been confirmed by the Brazilian Federation as the country’s representatives at next year’s Tokyo Olympics and they have repeatedly faced each other in the final in the South American country. This time, Rebecca and Ana had to fight an early deficit to come back and win in three sets (22-24, 21-17, 15-12) to take their ninth victory as a team.
“It’s always tough against them,” Ana Patricia reacted. “It’s a different situation for all of us and we’re still adapting to it. It’s difficult to return after such a long time and we still have a lot to improve, but if felt great that we returned winning. It’s good to see that even in adverse conditions and playing below our typical level we still were able to be consistent.”
Veterans Talita Antunes and Carolina Solberg secured the third and final podium spot after they prevailed over Juliana Felisberta and Josi Alves in the two-set (21-19, 21-14) bronze medal match.
The Brazilian Tour will restart for the men next week with the same system taking place in Saquarema.
