Brazil shines in Olympic beach volleyball test
Xinhua, September 7, 2015 Adjust font size:
Brazil secured gold, silver and bronze medals on the final day of the Rio 2016 Olympic beach volleyball test event at Copacabana beach on Sunday.
Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes defeated compatriots Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas in the women's gold medal match 32-20, 18-21, 15-12.
Bronze went to the Netherlands' Marleen Van Iersel and Madelein Meppelink, who overcame locals Juliana Silva and Maria Elisa Antonelli 25-21, 21-17.
In the men's competition, Latvia's Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins won gold by beating Germain pair Markus Bockermann and Lars Fluggen in the final. Brazil's Saymon Santos and Guto Carvalhaes took bronze.
Samoilovs hailed the event as a success and said he was surprised by the enthusiasm of Rio's volleyball fans.
"The crowd never stopped, they didn't just watch the games, the clapped, danced and sang," Samoilovs told Rio2016.com.
"It's an exchange of energy between them and us. But I cannot say I'm surprised, because Copacabana is a legendary place, this atmosphere is famous all over the world." Endi