Latvia and the Netherlands take Corrientes by storm

The Argentinean city of Corrientes made its debut on the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour when it hosted the Corrientes Grand Slam from May 22 to 26.

In the men’s competition Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins were the surprise winners while the Netherlands’ Madelein Meppelink/Sophie van Gestel took home gold in the women’s competition. 

Men’s competition

Striking fast and hitting hard, Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins powered past the stiff challenge from USA’s Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson to capture the men’s gold medal in two sets 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) in 39 minutes.

In the bronze medal match, Italian Olympians Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo played near flawlessly to stop Brazil’s Bruno Schmidt/Pedro Salgado in two sets 2-0 (21-13, 22-20) in 38 minutes.

Women’s competition

Netherlands’ Madelein Meppelink/Sophie van Gestel completed a clean sweep of their tournament, defeating Brazil’s Maria Antonelli/Agatha Bednarczuk 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) in 39 minutes.

Capturing the bronze medal for the second straight FIVB World Tour Grand Slam was Brazilian sisters Maria Claria Salgado/Carolina Salgado who held off a comeback attempt by USA’s 2012 Olympic silver medalists Jennifer Kessy/April Ross in three sets 2-1 (21-16, 19-21, 15-13) in 54 minutes.