Brazilians Duda and Ana Patrícia beat Canadians Bukovec and Brandie to win the title of beach volleyball world champion this Sunday (19) in Rome, Italy. The victory was by 2 sets to 0, partial scores of 21-17 and 21-19.
This is the sixth time that Brazil has won the women’s world title and the first for youngsters Duda and Ana Patrícia in the adult category.
This year, they have once again formed a partnership that has worked very well in the youth categories. Both men have been two-time under-21 world champions and have also won the Youth Olympic Games. Duda de Sergipe also has two under-19 world titles to his name.
Brazil returns to the top of the world podium after seven years. In 2015, Agatha and Bárbara were world champions in the Netherlands. A year later, they won the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The game
Brazil started to impose its game from the beginning. Duda made a good defense and attacked to lead 3-1. Duda herself tried her serve and made it 6-2 with an ace. Technically, the Brazilians did not give the Canadians any respite. Ana Patrícia closed the door on Bukovec and guaranteed a five-point gap on the scoreboard (12 to 7). The rivals improved on the court, tried to tighten their grip, but without much success. With ease, Duda closed the first set 21-17.
The Canadians came back better in the second set, especially when returning the ball. Unfortunately for them, the Brazilian duo also remained very firm and the game became more equal. Ana Patrícia blocked Bukovec and gave Brazil a small advantage (6 to 4).
By managing to break the Brazilian game, the Canadians began to push harder. Bukovec attacked twice (14-10), but opted for the service following the errors of Brazil (14-14). In one of the Canadian points, Ana Patrícia was very angry with the referee, who awarded a point to her rival during a dispute over the ball in the net.
The Brazilian team got a little nervous and took the lead 17-16. But all it took was a timeout, a break and everything was back to normal. With great confidence, the Brazilians turned the situation around and Ana Patrícia took advantage of the block to close the match 21-19 and become world champion.
*With information from Sportv
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