Hamburg, Germany, August 26 - Reigning Olympic and world champions Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany continue to validate their credentials as the best women's beach volleyball team on planet Earth by winning a three-set match over Brazil to capture the gold medal here Sunday at the $800,000 Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals presented by Vodafone.
Seeded 10th in the competition after receiving a wild card for the third annual event due to their limited play in 2017 due to injuries, Ludwig and Walkenhorst posted a 2-1 (21-17, 19-21, 15-10) gold medal win in 51 minutes over fourth-seeded Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa of Brazil.
With the victory, Ludwig and Walkenhorst captured their second-straight $100,000 check for winning the Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals. The Germans topped the podium at last October's World Tour Finals in Toronto, Canada. In the inaugural World Tour Final in 2015 on Fort Lauderdale Beach in the United States, Ludwig and Walkenhorst dropped the gold medal match to Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca of Brazil.
Agatha and the 19-year old Duda, who advanced to Saturday's finale by defeating Talita and Larissa in Friday's second semifinal, shared the $75,000 second-place prize.
The second-seeded Talita and Larissa won the bronze medal match by defeating third-seeded Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan of Canada 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) in 36 minutes.
