Liliana and Paula give Spain the home gold at Madrid Futures
News
Spanish teams made the most of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Madrid as, after the victory of the Huerta brothers Javier and Alejandro on the men’s event last week, on Sunday it was time for Liliana Fernández and Paula Soria to place the host country at the top of the podium of the women’s tournament.
The top-seeded Spanish confirmed their condition of favorites and secured the gold medals at the Puerta de Hierro Beach Volleyball centre with a perfect campaign of five wins and no sets dropped in three days.
On Sunday, in the gold medal match, the 36-year-old, three-time Olympian Liliana and the 30-year-old Paula overcame the new Ukrainian team of Diana Lunina and Tetiana Lazarenko in straight sets (21-15, 22-20) to take the title.
Liliana Fernández“The atmosphere was amazing and nothing beats playing at home. The fans were super excited and engaged during the event. We fully dominated the first set of the final, but they changed their strategy on the second set and started to play better. I had some issues, but Paula helped me and we managed to win.”
Spanish Beach Volleyball Player
The first victory of the team, which was formed ahead of the 2023 season, after Liliana returned to the sand following her second pregnancy, was also very special to Paula, who won an event in Madrid for a third-straight season. She triumphed in the Spanish capital in last year’s Beach Pro Tour Futures with Sofía González and in an FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour one-star event held in Madrid in 2021 alongside Belén Carro.
Paula Soria“I couldn’t believe when the last ball went out. Winning it with Lili, I have no words. It means a lot for us because we feel we’re getting better at every tournament. Playing at home can go both ways, but we had a lot of fun and enjoyed it. I think we were very focused and consistent.”
Spanish Beach Volleyball Player
Swiss Muriel Bossart and Shana Zobrist, who started the event in the qualifier, were rewarded for their excellent campaign of six wins in eight matches and made it to the podium in third place after they topped Dutch Wies Bekhuis and Desy Poiesz in the three-set (17-21, 21-19, 16-14) bronze medal match.
Madrid was the first stop of the Beach Pro Tour Futures in Europe – the events are run by the CEV in close cooperation with Volleyball World and provide teams from the continent with several opportunities to compete and gain valuable ranking points during the Olympic qualification period for the Paris 2024 Games.
With this week’s Cervia Futures postponed due to the challenging circumstances across the region of Emilia Romagna, which has experienced unprecedented flooding resulting in the death of as many as 13 people, the next event in the continent will take place in Lecce, Italy, from June 8-11.
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