Brazil solidified its early dominance at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Hamburg 2019 presented by comdirect and ALDI Nord by becoming the first country in the history of the event to start the tournament with an undefeated streak of 19 matches between its men’s and women’s teams.
Brazilian teams had won their first 18 matches in the inaugural edition of the event, in 1997, and the record-setting win in Hamburg came by the hands of 2015 world champion Barbara Seixas and her partner Fernanda Berti, who prevailed over Finland’s Taru Lathi-Liukkonen and Anniina Parkkinen 21-15, 21-17 to capture the top spot of Pool L and book their places in the Round of 32.
“That’s a massive accomplishment for us,” Barbara said about the mark. “Brazil has always been well-represented at the top level and it’s great to see that it remains this way. Since the beginning of the sport our country has had some great players and I’m glad everyone’s work is showing on our early results here.”
Barbara and Fernanda enjoyed solid performances in pool play as they won all their three matches without dropping a set and not allowing opponents to score more than 17 points on them in any of them. With the elimination round just around the corner, they know they need to keep the same form moving forward.
“Pool play has been very good for us,” Fernanda commented. “We had time to prepare for these teams and our coaching staff came up with some great gameplans, which we managed to execute pretty well. We’re pleased, but we won’t take anything from granted. There are no easy matches in the World Championships, especially now in the elimination round.”
Slovakians Natalia Dubovcova and Andrea Strbova were second in the pool after they defeated Mexico’s Martha Revuelta and Zaira Orellana 21-16, 21-9. They are also secured in the Round of 32, while the Finnish, who were third, may need to play in the lucky loser round before. The Mexicans are out of the tournament.
Dutch and Canadians also win their pools
Reigning European champions Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink of the Netherlands topped Pool H as they came out on top of the deciding match against Switzerland’s Nina Betschart and Tanja Hüberli 21-18, 21-18. Australians Nicole Laird and Becchara Palmer were third after they downed Egypt’s Randa Radwan and Doaa Elghobashy 21-11, 21-13.
Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes also ended their pool play campaing with a perfect record after they posted a 22-24, 21-17, 18-16 victory over USA's Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil. Russians Ekaterina Birlova and Evgenia Ukolova were third on Pool I with their 21-18, 21-14 triumph over Colombians Yuli Ayala and Diana Rios.
