This Sunday morning (31), the two pairs that will represent Brazil at the Tokyo Olympics in beach volleyball, Agatha/Duda and Ana Patricia/Rebecca, won the Sand Champions challenge. The tournament, played in three sets, took place on Urca beach, in Rio de Janeiro, and pitted the national athletes against the German and Canadian stars.
In the first set, Canadians Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson beat Ana Patricia and Rebecca 15-10. The second set saw the victory of German Olympic champion Laura Ludwig and Maggie Kozuch over Ágatha and Duda by a score of 15-13. But for As as a rule, the last partial, which put the two quartets face to face, had double weight. And with the Brazilian victory 15-14, in an exciting turnaround in the last part of the set, the green and yellow players celebrated at home.
The most experienced of the Brazilians, Olympic runner-up Agatha, 37, celebrated being able to face such traditional opponents again. “We were very excited about this event, especially to be in the quartet. We went back and started looking. In the end, despite the results in doubles, we ended up giving the victory to Brazil. It was a lot of fun, but it has a serious side, being able to face very high-level pairs, who will certainly be on our way on the World Tour or at the Olympic Games,” analyzed Agatha.
Passionate about Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, Olympic champion Laura Ludwig highly praised the event and the heavenly court, set up at Forte São João, facing Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain. “When the quartet competition ended, our feeling was: ‘Is it over already? We want to play more. It was a very good experience, with a magnificent view of Rio de Janeiro. Coming back to face the Brazilians after so long was very interesting for us at the start of the season,” said the German.
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