Beach Volleyball
Men’s duo deliver Brazilian beach party in Norway
Victory for the seventh seeds wrapped up a Brazilian clean sweep at the Swatch series in Stavanger.
The Brazilians take the fight to the Polish duo
© Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
Following the success of the nation's female duo Juliana Silva and Maria Antonelli in an all-Brazilian women's final the previous day, Brazil's Evandro Goncalves and Pedro Salgado ensured a weekend of dominance by the South American nation at the Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series in Stavanger, Norway, by claiming the men's final victory over Poland's Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel.
The battle-hardened seventh-seeded Brazilian duo used all of their big-match experience to dominate the game against the surprise package Poles to win with a straight-sets 2-0 scoreline, picking up 800 all-important Olympic qualifying points in the process.
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Swatch Major Series Stavanger Men’s final video
Watch the best action from a thrilling Men's Beach Volleyball final in Norway.
The Polish duo surprised the Stavanger competition to reach their first ever World Tour gold-medal match following an impressive straight-sets win over Italy's Ingrosso twins. They were no match for the inspired Brazilians, however, who easily dispatched another Polish pairing – Mariusz Prudel and Grzegorz Fijalek – in the semi-finals and were determined to follow in the footsteps of their dominant women's teams.
Like the victorious women's team, a forceful attack and an exceptional blocking game proved to be the winning combination and the Brazilians dominated the opening set 21-13. Fijalek and Prudel rallied early in the second set, but handed the Brazilians the advantage following a technical fault and from there Goncalves and Salgado never looked like being beaten.
The Poles stopped one match point, but the Brazilians weren't to be denied and claimed victory on the very next serve as the Poles smashed their serve into the net, conceding victory 21-14.
Brazil’s women get the party started
Agatha at full stretch
© Samo Vidic/Red Bull Content Pool
Stavanger, Norway, may have served up conditions that were rather more Baltic than The Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series is accustomed to, but that didn't stop the Brazilian teams from dominating the women's final day.
The gold-medal match was contested by the top-seeded pair of Agatha Bednarczuk and Bárbara Seixas, who faced off against compatriots Juliana Silva and Maria Antonelli.
However, it was Juliana and Antonelli, who came into the weekend's competition as fourth seeds, that started more confidently; taking the first set fairly comfortably by 21 points to 16.
There were signs of a rally from Agatha and Bárbara early in the second set, but they were continuing to struggle against their opponents' powerful defensive play. Every point was a battle, which brought out some thrilling rallies between the two teams.
Juliana's brilliance at the net began to pay off as play continued though, and the less-fancied pair looked much the hungrier as they eventually pulled away to seal the set 21-15 and claim the gold medal in straight sets.
Watch highlights from the women’s final in the player below.
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Highlights from the women’s final in Stavanger
Watch the best of the actio from the all-Brazilian battle in Norway.
Antonelli was delighted with the win, commenting: "I feel so good, but it was very difficult because we play them a lot in Brazil and we know each other so well," after she had collected the Viking sword that serves as the winners' trophy in Norway.
Agatha was magnanimous in defeat, accepting that her opponents had earned their victory: "I think the team that wanted to win today had to put the most energy into the game, and Maria’s energy made the difference."
Careful now
© Samo Vidic/Red Bull Content Pool
The gold medal was won and lost at the net
© Jörg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
Juliana and Antonelli are all smiles
© Jörg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
The bronze-medal match was a close-fought affair
© Jörg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
Directly before the final, the centre court crowd had been treated to another tense match up, as the Brazilians' defeated semi-final opponents – Dutch second seeds Marleen van Iersel and Madelein Meppelink, and the German duo of Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst – squared off for the bronze medal.
Van Iersel and Meppelink started the match strongly, claiming the first set with minimal fuss, but were pegged back by the Germans who turned things around to take the second set.
The final set started off in nervous fashion, with both pairs making early service errors, and remained tight until the Dutch duo won a thrilling final rally to claim third place on the podium and a first-ever Swatch Major Series medal of any type for a European women's team.
See more at SwatchMajorSeries.com