Norway’s Mol & Sorum and Brazil’s Thamela & Victoria celebrated the men’s and women’s trophies in Joao Pessoa
- Cherif & Ahmed of Qatar won the Joao Pessoa Elite16 silver in the men’s competition with support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment
- Norway’s Mol & Sorum and Sweden’s Ahman & Hellvig collected gold and bronze, respectively
- Brazil’s Thamela & Victoria and Taiana Lima & Talita, and USA’s Hildreth & Van Gunst, in that order, lined up on the women’s podium
With support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallists Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan (pictured in the main photo) of Qatar reached the men’s final of last week’s Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Joao Pessoa and earned the silver medal. Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions and Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallists Anders Mol & Christian Sorum of Norway showed their class and won gold, while Paris 2024 Olympic champions David Ahman & Jonatan Hellvig picked up the bronze. Brazil’s Thamela Coradello & Victoria Lopes celebrated the women’s gold. Their compatriots Taiana Lima & Talita Antunes also pleased the home crowd in Brazil with a silver medal finish in the women’s competition, while the USA’s Kimberly Hildreth & Teegan Van Gunst completed the podium.
The 2024 Joao Pessoa Elite16 medallists
The Qatar Volleyball Association has so far been granted a total of CHF 502,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment assistance. CHF 72,000 of that funding was tagged for coach support for their men’s national beach volleyball pairs, trained by Argentinean expert Pablo Bernardi. Another CHF 9,500 was allocated for beach volleyball equipment.
On the way to the Joao Pessoa final, 29-year-old Cherif & Ahmed, seeded fifth in the men’s main draw, lost just one of their pool matches, to Nicolas Capogrosso & Tomas Capogrosso of Argentina in three sets, but then got back at their next meeting in the semifinals. The duo from Qatar produced a 2-0 (21-10, 21-13) sweep and advanced to the gold medal showdown, securing their sixth Beach Pro Tour podium with a silver.
Two-time Olympic medallists, former world champions and former number one team in the FIVB World Ranking, Mol & Sorum, made a perfect run of six consecutive wins to claim the Joao Pessoa crown, their 10th trophy and 19th medal overall on the Beach Pro Tour. One of the three sets the third-seeded duo lost throughout the tournament was in the epic final against Cherif & Ahmed, which the Norwegian team won by a nail-biting 2-1 (25-27, 21-17, 19-17). They also lost a set in the semifinal against second-seeded Ahman & Hellvig, but celebrated a 2-1 (22-20, 18-21, 15-10) victory.
Paris 2024 Olympic champions, Ahman & Hellvig, made the podium with bronze after a 2-1 (19-21, 21-18, 15-11) comeback against the Capogrossos duo in the third-place match, collecting their 15th Beach Pro Tour medal.
Cherif sets the ball during the Joao Pessoa semifinals
Thamela Coradello & Victoria Lopes of Brazil started competing on the Tour together in July of this year, but have already collected their first gold and second medal, after their Hamburg Elite16 bronze in August, out of three events played.
In Joao Pessoa, the third-seeded Brazilian pair started off with a surprising three-set loss to qualifiers Deahna Kraft & Lexy Denaburg of the USA, but went on a winning streak, only losing a set throughout the rest of the tournament. In the semifinals, they met Kraft & Denaburg again and this time defeated them in straight sets, 2-0 (21-13, 21-14). They also mastered a convincing 2-0 (21-14, 21-14) sweep of the final against 12th-seeded compatriots Taiana Lima & Talita Antunes.
Taiana Lima and three-time Olympian Talita, also started the tournament with a loss, but then won their next four matches to reach the final and claim their second Beach Pro Tour medal as a team, a silver medal. In the semifinals, they also met a qualifying pair from the USA, Kimberly Hildreth & Teegan Van Gunst, and beat them in straight sets, 2-0 (21-17, 22-20).
Hildreth & Van Gunst bounced back with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-14) victory over fellow duo from the USA Kraft & Denaburg in the third-place match to celebrate their duo’s first ever Elite16 medal. Previously, they had two silver medals, both from Futures events.
Tense emotions for Thamela & Victoria during the Joao Pessoa final
28 men’s and 27 women’s teams representing a total of 21 different countries took part in the Joao Pessoa Elite16. The next Elite16 event will also be held Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, from 6 to 10 November.
Joao Pessoa Elite16: results and standings
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