Canada again showed its strength on the beach volleyball World Tour, as Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson reached the podium today at the Tokyo 4-star event in Japan.
In the women’s bronze medal match, Bansley (Waterdown, ON) and Wilkerson (Toronto, ON) posted a 2-0 (21-19, 21-11) win in 39 minutes over 18th-seeded Karla Borger/Julia Sude of Germany to collect the $10,000 third-place prize. It was the second win this season for the Canadians over Borger and Sude, who received $8,000 for finishing fourth.
Brazilians Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda “Duda” Lisboa took the women’s gold medal Sunday evening over Alix Klineman and April Ross of the United States.
Klineman and Ross had a 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) quarterfinal win over second-seeded Canadians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan (who finished fifth in Tokyo) on Saturday. Three weeks ago, in Hamburg, Germany at the FIVB World Championships, the Canadians defeated Klineman and Ross 2-0 (23-21, 23-21) in the 58-minute gold medal match.
Canada’s Sam Pedlow (Barrie, ON) and Sam Schachter (Richmond Hill, ON) were ninth on the men’s side. Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway won gold.
The event was held at Shiokaze Park, site of the 2020 Olympic beach volleyball tournament.
