Argentina’s Tomas Capogrosso & Nicolas Capogrosso and Paraguay’s Michelle Valiente & Giuliana Poletti Corrales, both benefitting from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment support for their federations, earned their spots on the podiums at the CSV Beach Volleyball South American Tour finals in Iquique, Chile. The Capogrosso brothers claimed the men’s silver and lined up between continental champions Andre Stein & Renato Lima of Brazil and bronze medalists Marco Grimalt & Esteban Grimalt. In the women’s tournament, Michelle & Corrales took bronze, while Verena Figueira & Thainara Feitosa beat Talita Simonetti & Kyce Martins in an all-Brazilian final.
The Federacion del Voleibol Argentino’s beach volleyball department has been assisted with USD 42,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their men’s national duos, trained by instructor Giuliano Mezzagno.
Argentina’s Tomas Capogrosso & Nicolas Capogrosso, seeded second in the men’s main draw in Chile, stormed to the gold medal match losing only a set in the five matches played on the way. They topped their winning streak with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) sweep of the semifinal against home favorites Marco Grimalt & Esteban Grimalt, seeded third, to secure their spot on the podium.
Fourth-seeded Andre Stein & Renato Lima of Brazil ran through the competition undefeated in six matches played. They mastered a 2-0 (21-12, 21-12) shutout of Venezuela’s Oscar Kirchner & Enyenser Delgado in the semifinals and stopped the Capogrossos’ quest with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) victory in the final showdown (pictured in the main photo; credits: Matias Escobar / CSV).
To the delight of the Chilean fans, the Grimalts completed the podium after a 2-0 (21-10, 21-11) sweep of the bronze medal match against Kirchner & Enyenser.
The national beach volleyball teams of Paraguay have so far been funded with a total of USD 336,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Currently, they are trained by Brazilian coach Adriano Garrido. Paraguay’s national federation’s beach volleyball program has been granted another USD 12,000 for national team coach development knowledge transfer programs and USD 11,000 in beach volleyball equipment.
Paraguayan Olympians Michelle Valiente & Giuliana Poletti Corrales, seeded second in the women’s main draw in Iquique, won all three of their pool matches and their quarterfinal in straight sets. Their first setback came in a nail-biting three-set semifinal, where Brazil’s Talita Simonetti & Kyce Martins squeezed out a 2-1 (24-22, 21-23, 15-13) victory. Michelle & Corrales bounced back with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-13) win in the third-place playoff against Argentina’s Agostina Ghigliazza & Morena Marisa Abdala to bring home bronze.
In the other semifinal, Verena Figueira & Thainara Feitosa achieved a 2-0 (21-14, 23-21) win over Ghigliazza & Abdala, and went on to hammer out a 2-0 (21-10, 21-17) victory over compatriots Simonetti & Kyce in the all-Brazilian final to complete an impeccable tournament record of six straight-set wins and triumph as South American champions.
12 men’s and 12 women’s duos representing nine South American countries – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela – took part in the Iquique finals.
The 2026-2027 season of the CSV Beach Volleyball South American Tour is set to launch in August with an event in Bogota, Colombia.
