Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda ‘Duda’ Santos Lisboa ended the 2017-18 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour as World Tour champions, but it was another season that underlined the strength of the women’s beach volleyball with a number of teams topping the podium throughout the season.
With Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualification due to begin in 2018-19, the 2017-18 season was a chance for new partnerships to take shape, and for teams to lay down markers for when qualifying begins.
Agatha and Duda crowned their season when they won gold at the Hamburg 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) victory over the Czech Republic’s Barbara Hermannova and Marketa Slukova.
It meant that the 35-year-old Agatha and 20-year-old Duda ended the season with another medal to add to the one gold, one silver and one bronze that they had already won on the World Tour.
“I know Agatha is there to help me, so I just try to stay positive,” Duda said after their win in Hamburg. “I try to pay attention to anything she says, but sometimes I think we just have to follow our intuitions. But I know how helpful she can be and I try to listen to her all the time.”
Author: FIVB
