Lausanne, Switzerland, April 1, 2019 – Brazil and Argentina’s teams sent out the message that they are ready to lead South America’s hopes at the FIVB U21 Beach Volleyball World Championships when their teams reached the gold medal matches at the first CSV South American U21 World Championships qualifying tournament in Arica, Chile on Sunday.
Brazil’s Victoria Lopes Pereira Tosta and Thamela Coradello Galil won women’s gold, while Argentina’s Mauro Zelayeta and Bautista Amieva claimed men’s gold. Gold medallists earned 200 qualification points, silver medallists claimed 180 points and bronze medallists 160.
Two more qualifiers are set to follow in Lima, Peru from April 5-7 and Asuncion, Paraguay on April 13 and 14. The five teams with the most points will compete when the 2019 edition of the tournament takes place in Udon Thani, Thailand from June 18-23.
Victoria and Thamela won all six matches in Arica, and defeated Argentina’s Brenda Churin and Victoria Galdon 2-0 (21-14, 21-12) in the gold medal match. Peru’s Lisbeth Allcca and Medalyn Mendoza beat Bolivia’s Maria Canedo and Nicole Nogales 2-0 (21-17, 21-16) to win the bronze medal.
“We are very happy, we won all the matches, we finished unbeaten and we played well from the beginning,” Victoria said. “Thamela and I are getting to know each other more and more, we are training together and that increases our friendship off the court.”
Zelayeta and Amieva denied Brazil a golden double by defeating Rafael and Renato Andrew Lima de Carvalho 2-1 (21-17, 15-21, 13-15).
Uruguay’s Esteban Bailon and Nicolas Bertran won bronze with a 2-1 (18-21, 21-18, 15-11) victory over Ecuador’s Jurado Carillo and Leon Nieves.