Gstaad, Switzerland, July 8, 2017 - Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude of Germany defeated Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca of Brazil here Saturday afternoon to win the women’s gold medal at the $600,000 Gstaad Major.
Seeded six in the FIVB World Tour event, Laboureur and Sude scored a 2-0 (21-18, 22-20) win in 36 minutes over the second-seeded Talita and Larissa to split the $40,000 first-place prize. It was the Germans first FIVB World Tour win in five international matches with Talita and Larissa, who shared $32,000 for placing second.
Sunday’s gold medal was the second for the Laboureur/Sude partnership as the Gstaad Major was the 46th FIVB World Tour event. With the Gstaad Major being the third of three Swatch Major Series stops on the 2017 international Beach Volleyball calendar, Laboureur and Sude claimed their second medal after placing third in the first “Major” stop in mid-February at an event in the United States.
With the win, Laboureur and Sude became the second German pair to win a gold medal in Gstaad as Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler won the 2014 title in the Swiss Alps village by defeating compatriots Karla Borger and Britta Buthe in the All-German finale.
With the Gstaad Major being the 326th FIVB women’s event since the start of the World Tour in 1992, Sunday’s gold medal match was the 21st-time Brazil and Germany have met for a gold medal. Despite the setback Sunday, the South American country continues to lead the series 16-5.
Talita and Larissa, who were seeking their third-straight Gstaad Major gold medal, won the first event of the season in the United States at the Fort Lauderdale Major where the Germans placed third. The Brazilians are now 15-3 in FIVB World Tour gold medal matches as the Gstaad Major was their 33rd international start together since forming their partnership in July 2014.
Both the finalists won mid-day semifinal matches Sunday with Laboureur and Sude out-lasting ninth-seeded Joana Heidrich/Anouk Vergé-Dépré of Switzerland 2-1 (15-21, 23-21, 20-18) in 61 minutes and Talita and Larissa defeated fifth-seeded Melissa Humana-Parades/Sarah Pavan of Canada 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) in 32 minutes.
In the bronze medal match, Humana-Paredes and Pavan defeated Heidrich and Vergé-Dépré 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) in 35 minutes. The Canadians, who shared $20,000 for their third-place Gstaad finish, won their second-straight Swatch Major Series medal after topping the podium at last week’s stop in Croatia. The Swiss shared $16,000 for fourth-place.
