JURMALA, Latvia, June 18, 2023.- Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes won their first Beach Pro Tour gold medal as a team in Jurmala, Latvia, today.
Canada defeated Switzerland’s Zoé Vergé-Dépré and Esmée Böbner 2-0 (21-17, 21-17).
Although the Swiss duo put pressure on Canada with their serve, Canada out blocked (5-1) their opponents, led in attack points and made fewer errors.
“It was a really solid week of consistent play by us. We stuck together, overcoming some adversity and really enjoyed playing each point,” said Humana-Paredes, who won this event last year with previous partner, Sarah Pavan.
“It’s been a long time on the road and we’re excited to go home to celebrate with our loved ones and get ready for the next one!”
Brandie/Melissa also won a bronze medal at the Elite 16 in Ostrava, Czech Republic, earlier this month.
“I am so happy, this team has been working hard so it’s so good to see it come out as a gold medal,” Wilkerson said in the post-match interview. “Every point we played as if it was the first point of the game until the very end. Our opponents are talented, and had a great tournament, so it was an effort to play against them.”
Earlier today, Canada’s team also beat home country favourites Anastasija Samoilova and Tina Graudina in the semifinal 2-0 (21-17, 21-16) to advance to the gold medal match. Latvia ended up winning the bronze medal over Brazil’s Tainá/Victoria in a tie break (21-11, 20-22, 15-13).
For more information on the Beach Pro Tour, which counts towards Olympic qualification points, see the Beach Volleyball World website: https://en.volleyballworld.com/beachvolleyball/competitions/beach-pro-tour/
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