Challenge - Edmonton, CAN - 2023 - Beach Pro Tour 2023 season - News

Gottardi/Menegatti (ITA) vs. Klinger D./Klinger R. (AUT) - Quarterfinals #5964255

Menegatti and Gottardi celebrate a point against Austrians Ronja and Dorina Klinger

Four tournaments after their first title as partners, Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi will have the opportunity of fighting for another gold medal on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour as the Italians will compete in the medal rounds of the Edmonton Challenge on Sunday.

The Europeans are one of the four teams that advanced to the semifinals of the event held at the Fan Park on Saturday and will be in action on the last day of the Canadian tournament.

  • Watch the Beach Pro Tour Edmonton Challenge live on VBTV

In the semifinals, Menegatti and Gottardi will play against Swiss Zoé Vergé-Dépré and Esmée Böbner, at 09:00 local time (15:00 UTC), on Sunday. One hour later, Czechs Barbora Hermannová and Marie-Sara Štochlová will face Brazilians Carol Salgado and Bárbara Seixas for the second spot in the final. The medal matches will end the tournament in Edmonton, with the dispute for bronze taking place at 14:00 local time (20:00 UTC) and the contest for gold beginning one hour later.

Partners since the end of 2021, the 32-year-old Menegatti and the 20-year-old Gottardi won their first title together in April, when they were the champions of the Saquarema Challenge, in Brazil. Since that tournament, the two played in three Elite16 events, taking 17th in Uberlândia, 13th in Ostrava and fifth in Gstaad.

Back to Challenge events, the Italians have been in great form in Edmonton and dropped their first set in this week’s tournament in the Round of 16, where they eliminated top-seeded Americans Sarah Sponcil and Terese Cannon in the tie-breaker (21-17, 17-21, 15-9). Later, in the quarterfinals, the Italians topped the Austrian Klinger sisters Dorina and Ronja in straight sets (21-15, 21-17).

Gottardi/Menegatti (ITA) vs. Klinger D./Klinger R. (AUT) - Quarterfinals #5964265

Gottardi tries to stop Ronja Klinger at the net

**Beach Pro Tour Edmonton Challenge – Match Schedule and Results**

Their next opponents, Esmée and Zoé are set to make their third semifinal appearance in the 2023 Beach Pro Tour after they navigated the elimination rounds in Edmonton. The Swiss had a difficult bracket, but powered through it with a two-set (23-21, 21-16) win over Canadians Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec in the Round of 16 and another sweep (21-19, 21-18) in the quarterfinals, this one against Americans Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles.

Bansley/Bukovec (CAN) vs. Esmée/Zoé (SUI) - Round of 16 #5960270

Esmée makes a blocking move against Bansley in the Round of 16

Hermannová and Štochlová had the longest route among the four semifinalists as they started the Edmonton Challenge in the qualifier and have now won five of their six matches in the tournament. On Saturday, the Czechs got a strong Round of 16 straight-set (21-19, 21-15) victory over Spanish Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno before prevailing in the tie-breaker (24-26, 21-15, 15-10) against Germans Laura Ludwig and Louisa Lippmann in the quarterfinals.

Just six days after their victory at the Espinho Challenge, Carol and Bárbara are fighting for another title on the Beach Pro Tour. The Brazilians made it to the semifinals with a perfect record of four wins and no sets dropped after they topped compatriots Ágatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti 2-0 (21-18, 24-22) in the Round of 16 and overcame Slovenians Tjasa Kotnik and Tajda Lovsin also in two sets (21-12, 21-9) in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

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