2017 FIVB WORLD BEACH TOUR – RIO DE JANIERO
- May 17-21
- Olympic Park, Barra da Tijuca
- Co-ed
- 4-Star Event
- Event Site
- Results
It undeniable that Brazil has produced and continues to produce some of the top beach volleyball athletes in the world. This proved to be accurate when three Brazilian women’s duos made it to the quarterfinals of the FIVB World Tour event in Rio.
Larissa Franca was one of the players to make it to this round of the tournament. She expresses her enjoyment of playing on the World Tour. Teams reinvent themselves every year, trying out new techniques, practicing more and trying to improve upon their weaknesses from the prior year. This keeps things interesting for veteran players on the tour, keeping them up on the relevant way of play, having to be on the top of their game at all times.
This year, there have been many partner switches, which some of these veteran players and pairings have not seen making playing such teams a larger challenge. Agatha Bednarczuk explains that it is the year after the Olympics and many of these new pairings are looking ahead towards Tokyo 2020. Agatha and her new partner Eduarda ‘Duda’ Santos Lisboa are one of the new partnerships that have formed for the 2017 season, making it an interesting ride to figure out what works. Agatha and Duda made their new partnership work, as they closed the deal at the Rio event with the eventual victory in the finals. Along with being in a new partnership, Agatha – who has been on the Tour for 12 years – has partnered with a much younger player in Duda, which poses its own challenges. With the experience difference, they are learning from each other, a new way of playing and a more relaxed and poised level of play from Agatha.
Talita Antunes is one of the veteran players on the World Tour, now being known as the “third generation” in the beach volleyball world – with the addition of all the talented, young up-and-comers.
Despite a height differential with the Brazilian players to their European and American counterparts, they still find ways to win – through a more careful way of play and a certain finesse with the game.
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