Brazilian teams dominated the grand final of the South American Beach Volleyball Circuit, winning the men's title with André Stein and George Souto Mayor and the women's title with Bárbara Seixas and Carol Solberg.

In the competition held last Sunday in Uberlândia, Brazil, Chile took the silver and bronze medals, with cousins Esteban and Marco Grimalt and Aravena and Droguett, respectively. In the women’s tournament, the silver went to the Paraguayan team Erika Mongelos and Michelle Valiente, and the bronze to the Brazilian pair Tainá Bigi and Victoria Tosta.

The top men’s and women's pairs not only celebrated gold, silver, and bronze, but the South American competition also met its representatives for two key tournaments of 2023, the FIVB World Championships and the Pan American Games.

The South American Beach Volleyball Circuit grants four spots for the FIVB World Championships, taking place between 6 and 15 October, in the arenas of Tlaxcala, Huamantla, and Apizaco in Mexico. Argentina, Brazil and Chile are set to compete in both categories, as well as Paraguay in the women's event and Venezuela in the men's competition.

In addition, the following countries have qualified for the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombi and Ecuador (in the men's competition) and Paraguay, Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia and Uruguay (in the women's competition). They will be joined by Chile as the host country, and Brazil which has already qualified as the champions of the Cali 2021 Pan American Youth Games.

In the fight for the women's gold in the final in Uberlândia, the Brazilians Bárbara Seixas and Carol Solberg won the title after overcoming Paraguayans Erika Mongelos and Michelle Valiente 2-0 (21-17, 21-13). The Brazilian pair managed their lead on the scoreboard while Erika and Michelle started to struggle to score. In the end, it was an indisputable triumph, and the title came without the Brazilian pair dropping a single set.

Barbara and Carol have not lost a single set (Photo credits: Bruno Cunha,  BSC Photos)

In the battle for the bronze medal, the Brazilian duo of Tainá and Victoria dominated the first set against the Chilean pair of Rivas Zapata and Chris Vorphal, until Rivasinjured her left knee and had to retire from the match, resulting in victory for the Brazilians.

Brazil and Paraguay at the podium (Photo credits: Bruno Cunha,  BSC Photos)

The men’s final match was a repeat of last year's South American Circuit final and the result was the same, a tight 2-1 (18-21, 21-18, 21-19) win for André and George against the Grimalt cousins from Chile. The tie-break was a true spectacle.

Champions Andre-George (Photo credits: Bruno Cunha,  BSC Photos)

The match started evenly, but Brazil took a 6-3 lead, forcing Chile to call a timeout. It was then Brazil's turn to halt the game after the score reached 6-7. The teams continued to exchange points, but André managed to achieve two consecutive blocks and secure the match point at 14-11. However, the Grimalt cousins then scored four times in a row and turned the score around to 14-15. After saving four match points, André and George finished 21-19.

Noé Aravena and Vicente Droguett of Chile claimed the bronze, defeating Argentinean brothers Nicolás and Tomás Capogrosso (ARG) 2-0 (21-17, 21-12).

Marta Sobral visited CSV Executive Committee

South American Beach Volleyball Circuit’s was attended by an illustrious personality, Marta Sobral, Brazilian National Secretary of High Performance Sport. Former basketball player, Marta won two Olympic medals, silver at the Atlanta Games and bronze at the Sydney Games. The Secretary met Marco Túlio Teixeira, South American Volleyball Confederation’s president and  members of CSV’s  Executive Committee.