Brazilians, Mexicans and Chileans win medals before Kuşadası Challenge

Teams from Brazil, Chile and Mexico set to compete at this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in Kuşadası, Turkey, got an opportunity to compete regionally last weekend in South American and NORCECA tournaments.

Four teams left the events with medals, including Brazil’s Elize Maia/Thamela Coradello and Bruno Schmidt/Saymon Barbosa, Chile’s Marco Grimalt/Esteban Grimalt and Mexico’s Juan Virgen/Miguel Sarabia, who all took places on the podium at their respective events.

In Uberlandia, Brazil, two teams that will compete in Kuşadası ended the South American Tour Finals in second place. They were Elize and Thamela in the women's competition and Marco and Esteban Grimalt in the men's. The Brazilians are seeded second in Turkey and will start directly in the main draw while the Chilean cousins will have to go through Thursday’s qualifier.

Elize and Thamela fell to compatriots Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patricia Ramos 2-0 (22-20, 21-15) in the all-Brazilian final played at the Praia Clube. Argentinean Olympians Ana Gallay and Fernanda Pereyra were third while Chileans Francisca Rivas Zapata and Chris Vorpahl, who will also appear in the Kuşadası qualifier, ranked fifth.

Two teams who will soon make the trip to Turkey made it on to the podium in the men's competition. The Grimalts lost to the Itapema Challenge winners Andre Loyola and George Wanderley of Brazil 2-1 (25-27, 21-16, 15-11) to finish second, one position ahead of Bruno and Saymon.

The Brazilians are guaranteed a place in the main draw in the Turkish tournament. They took bronze after they defeated Uruguayans Hans Hannibal and Marco Cairus in straight sets (27-25, 21-16). Chileans Noe Aravena and Vicente Droguett took fifth and will also compete in Kuşadası later this week – they will start in the main draw.

In this weekend's NORCECA event in La Paz, Mexico, Virgen and Sarabia had a perfect run until the gold medal match, when they fell to Americans Billy Kolinske and Cory Evans in straight sets (21-19, 21-17). The Mexicans are ranked ninth in the qualifier in Kuşadası and will play on Thursday.

Their compatriots Atenas Gutierrez and Maria Jose Quintero came close to also winning a medal in La Paz, but had to settle for fourth after they lost to Americans Savvy Simo and Megan Gebhard in the three-set (19-21, 21-11, 15-11) bronze medal match. Like Virgen and Sarabia, they will also start the Kuşadası Challenge in the qualifier, seeded third.