Brazil makes clean sweep of gold medals in The Hague

After three consecutive years as a double-gender Open World Tour stop, The Hague in the Netherlands returned – after a one-year absence – to host its first double-gender Grand Slam event on the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour from June 11 to 16.

Brazil added two more gold and one silver medal to its already impressive honour list as Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima defeated Maria Clara and Carolina Salgado to take gold and silver in the women’s competition and Pedro Salgado Solberg and his new partner Bruno Oscar Schmidt won gold in the men’s competition.

Men’s competition

Brazil’s Pedro Solberg and Bruno Oscar Schmidt defeated Corrientes champions, Latvia’s Janis Smedins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs 2-0 (21-19, 21-12) to win their first team gold. For Bruno it was his second final in The Hague having won silver in 2010 with Benjamin Insfran.

Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel defeated Austrian qualifiers Alexander Huber and Robin Seidl 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) to take bronze - their first medal since Berlin in July 2012, where they claimed bronze as well.

Women’s competition

In an all-Brazilian final Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima claimed their second gold medal for the season when the Shanghai champions defeated compatriots Maria Clara and Carolina Salgado in two sets 2-0 (21-16, 21-13). This Grand Slam gold was Talita Antunes 14th career win in 11 seasons.

Germany’s Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler claimed the first medal for their country when they won the bronze medal match against Dutch players Jantine van der Vlist and Marloes Wesslink 2-0 (21-12, 21-14)