August 24, 2014 – Brazilian teams topped both the men’s and women’s podiums at the Stare Jablonki Grand Slam and will now travel to the next stop on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, the Sao Paolo Grand Slam, with renewed confidence.
Pedro Salgado and Alvaro Filho won the men’s tournament 24 hours after Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes won the women’s and for both teams their success is remarkable.
Pedro and Alvaro were playing in their first tournament together having only teamed up in the past two weeks, while Larissa and Talita won a second consecutive gold in their fourth tournament as a pair.
However, there will be a number of teams aiming to ensure that the Brazilians don’t dominate on home sand when the tournament takes place from September 23-28.
Men’s silver medallists Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins and bronze medallists Jacob Gibb and Casey Patterson showed a return to their form of 2013, while the women’s silver medallists Laura Ludwig and Julia Sude and bronze medallists Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler showed that German beach volleyball continues to enjoy further success.
Pedro and Alvaro begin life together in golden style
Pedro Salgado and Alvaro Filho made a perfect start to life as a pair when they won the Stare Jablonki Grand Slam gold medal on Sunday.
The Brazilians defeated reigning FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour champions Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 15-12). Pedro and Alvaro started the stronger in the first set, but once Samoilovs and Smedins nudged ahead they controlled the set comfortably.
It appeared to be going the same way in the second, but Pedro and Alvaro rallied before the first technical timeout and they maintained their momentum to the finish.
“It is even more impressive because we didn’t have any time to practice together,” Pedro said. “We really wanted to play here and we really love this place, it is such a great tournament.
“Alvaro was a finalist here last year in the World Championships and I won here in 2009 and I wanted to come so badly, but we didn’t expect to finish like that. It is great to win against the Latvians, so that makes it even better.”
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Pedro and Alvaro out to stop World Tour champs in Stare Jablonki final
Pedro Salgado and Alvaro Filho set up a gold medal match against Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins after they won the first of the Stare Jablonki Grand Slam semifinals on Sunday.
Pedro and Alvaro are playing in their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together after pairing up following the Klagenfurt Grand Slam and they faced a tough test against the USA’s Jacob Gibb and Casey Patterson, but stayed focused to win 2-1 (21-17, 11-21, 15-13) in three sets.
The Brazilians won the first set, but the Americans fought back in the second and then saved one match point before a powerful Pedro spike won the match.
Latvian duo Samoilovs and Smedins beat Austria pair Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst 2-0 (22-20, 21-17).
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The double-gender US$800,000 FIVB Stare Jablonki Grand Slam ran from Tuesday August 19 until Sunday August 24 when the men’s medal matches took place. It was the 13th event and the ninth Grand Slam on the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar that features 10 Grand Slams and nine Open tournaments.
The 2014 World Tour began at the Fuzhou Open in China in April and concludes at the Durban Open in South Africa in December. Next up on the World Tour calendar is the Sao Paolo Grand Slam which runs from September 23-28.