Menegatti and Gottardi claim gold at Saquarema Challenge
News
Europe was represented at both the women’s and men’s podiums of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Saquarema Challenge on Sunday, with Italians Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi winning gold and Austrians Julian Hörl and Alexander Horst taking bronze in the tournament held in Brazil.
Menegatti, 32, and Gottardi, 20, became the sixth European team to win gold at the Beach Pro Tour in 2023 and the first women to top the podium at a Challenge event this year with their victory in Brazil, which was also the first for the team, formed at the end of 2021.
The Europeans had Tainá Bigi and Victoria Lopes as their opponents in the final in Saquarema and overcame the Brazilians and their loud fans, prevailing in a dramatic three-set match (18-21, 25-23, 15-11).
Marta Menegatti“This victory means a lot to us. We were fourth at the Tepic Elite16 and our goal here was to improve from the ninth-place finish we had at the La Paz Challenge. I think the key was staying patient during the entire match. We trusted each other a lot, were always aggressive and kept the focus on our side and that’s how we managed to come back on the second set.”
Italian Beach Volleyball Player
Lithuanians Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte also had a remarkable campaign in Saquarema, going to the qualifier to the semifinals, but lost to Brazilians Andressa Cavalcanti and Vitória Rodrigues in the tie-breaker (19-21, 21-12, 15-9) in the bronze medal match and couldn’t reward their efforts with a podium appearance in Brazil.
On the men’s tournament, Hörl and Horst managed to maintain Europe on the podium in every Elite16 and Challenge men's event of the season by finishing third in Brazil – the continent has three golds, four silvers and five bronze in five events of this level so far.
The Austrians defeated Americans Miles Partain and Andy Benesh in the tie-breaker (14-21, 21-15, 15-10) in the bronze medal match. It was also the first medal for the two in a Challenge event – they had won Futures events in Klaipeda and Baden last season.
Julian Hörl“The crowd was amazing. The stadium was packed the entire time and they wouldn’t stop cheering. It’s really cool to play in this environment and we had a lot of fun.”
Austrian Beach Volleyball Player
Brazilians Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci secured the title, topping Americans Chase Budinger and Miles Evans in the final.
The Beach Pro Tour will have a Futures event in Satun, Thailand, next week before returning to Brazil for the Uberlândia Elite16 from April 26-30.
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