A new super-pairing has formed in Brazilian women’s beach volleyball. Unveiled this week at the beginning of the Brazilian beach tour, Barbara and Fernanda have teamed up to become Brazil’s new super-pair.
Fernanda – voted the best spiker of the 2015 FIVB World Championships – and Barbara – owner of 23 international medals – have made their goal qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Barbara and former partner Agatha Bednarczuk finished tied for 23rd in last year’s FIVB World Rankings. Fernanda and her former partner Josi Alves were tied for 40th.
While Fernanda has a long resume of her own internationally, the 29-year old Barbara is the more accomplished of the pair – with over $415,000 in career earnings on the beach. She and Bednarczuk took a silver medal at last year’s Olympic Games, losing only in the championship match to Germany’s Laura Ludwig and Kira Wilkenhorst in front of a home crowd.
Brazil only sent one pair to the FIVB World Tour Finals two weeks ago in Toronto, and neither of these pairs were involved.
Neither Bednarczuk, who is 33, nor Josi Alves, who is 37, has made an announcement on their futures plans.
This is the second major pairing announcement in the last week, after Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre announced they’d join forces following the retirement of their respective Swiss partners.
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