March 27, 2023: Two Canadian beach volleyball teams – Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, and Sarah Pavan and Sophie Bukovec – advanced to the playoffs at the Elite16 Beach Pro Tour tournament in Tepic, Mexico, this past weekend.
After winning their pool, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson advanced to the quarter-finals and were eliminated by Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi of Italy 1-2 (10-21, 21-19, 7-15). This Canadian team finished fifth overall. Pavan and Bukovec fell to Australia (Clancy and Artacho) 2-0 in the round of 12, and finished ninth in the standings.
The Canadian men’s entry of Sam Schachter and Dan Dearing did not qualify for the tournament’s main draw.
Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes of the United States won the women’s gold over Brazilians Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos. Australians Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho took bronze. The Swedish team of David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig won men’s gold.
The Beach Pro Tour continues this week, with a Futures tournament in Queensland, Australia, from Wednesday to Sunday. The next Elite16 event will be played in Uberlândia, Brazil, from April 26-30. The Elite16 competition is the highest level of the Beach Pro Tour with the top 16 teams per gender going for gold.
More info: https://en.volleyballworld.com/beachvolleyball/competitions/beach-pro-tour/Volleyball Canada media contact:
Jackie Skender jskender@volleyball.ca
(613) 794-7676
Photo: Philip Whitcombe