Paris Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson were challenged in their first match of 2025, but still managed to begin the season with a victory, triumphing in their debut at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite event held in Saquarema, Brazil, on Wednesday.

The Canadians were one of 12 teams that started their campaigns in Brazil with a win and are now one victory away from the Round of 12. The main draw continues on Thursday for the women, with the conclusion of pool play. Twelve matches (two in each pool) will be held from 14:00 local time (17:00 GMT) to 20:00 (23:00 GMT) in Saquarema, with 18 of the 24 duos that started the tournament remaining alive by the end of the day.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Saquarema Elite live on VBTV

Back on the Beach Pro Tour after four months, the 32-year-old Canadians were faced with Italian qualifiers Giada Bianchi and Claudia Scampoli in their first match in Pool F. The Europeans pushed them to the tie-breaker, but the Olympic medalists delivered when it mattered to win 2-1 (21-14, 17-21, 15-8) and celebrate their first victory in the new season.

On Thursday, Melissa and Brandie, who are already guaranteed in the elimination rounds, will try to advance in first place to go directly to the Round of 12. To do that, they will need to top Latvian Olympians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova, who defeated Brazilians Talita Calixto and Thainara Feitosa 2-0 (21-13, 21-19) in the other match of the pool.

Brazilians spoil new Swiss team's debut

Pool D had one of the most anticipated matches of the day, with the debut of the new Swiss team formed by sisters and Olympians Anouk and Zoé Vergé-Dépré. The two had good moments against Brazilians Andressa Cavalcanti and Tainá Bigi, but ended up losing in straight sets (21-19, 21-19).

On Friday, the Brazilians will face Germans Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann, the FIVB World Ranking leaders, who defeated Finnish qualifiers Taru Lahti and Niina Ahtiainen in the tie-breaker (21-17, 17-21, 15-12). The teams from Switzerland and Finland will also battle, with the winners moving to the Round of 18 and the losers exiting the tournament.

Beach Pro Tour Saquarema Elite – Match Schedule

The Pool A final will have Brazilians Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes going against Lithuanian Olympians Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte, while Brazilians Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti will meet Americans Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher in the match that will determine the winners of Pool B.

The Pool C finalists are Australia’s Taliqua Clancy/Jana Milutinovic and USA’s Terese Cannon/Megan Kraft. Finally, the top spot in Pool E is between reigning Olympic champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos of Brazil and Americans Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw.

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