Volleyball
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Brazil Olympians on Quest for Beach Volleyball World Cup
Olympians Talita Antunes and Rebecca Cavalcanti Silva are campaigning for the Rome Beach Volleyball World Cup title.
When we think about Beach Volleyball one might reflect on the days that a person can lay down and have a perfect interaction with nature. That might not be true for long-enduring volleyball matches under the sun, wind, and sometimes rain.
This week, the world will watch the men's and women's FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Championship. We would like to highlight the performances of Talita and Rebecca (Team Brazil) since I met them in Brazil about six weeks ago and was so impressed with their planning for this competition.
If you are familiar with the extreme effort to walk on the soft sands, maybe you will value playing four to five volleyball matches for almost a whole week, back-to-back. This is what it takes to compete at the toughest beach volleyball championship in the world. Over this past weekend, the experienced team Talita & Rebecca finished at the top of their pool, and they started their campaign this week with high hopes to win the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup in 2022.
The net war will be fierce, considering that some of the best blockers will be attempting to stop every shot, dink, and roll from their opponents. But, in Beach Volleyball, defense is the name of the game, and Talita & Rebecca spent hours each day practicing defense while I observed them at the Center of Volleyball Development in Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the last month of April.
The long preparation was orchestrated by Prof. Renato Franca, who graduated in Physical Education & Sports Sciences. His planning and methods of practice epitomize what is considered top-level in beach volleyball.
The whole volleyball community will be watching their idols and icon players. The plasticity of digging the ball as well as the festive environment will be the highlight of this tough tournament that unfortunately does not have the presence of April Ross and Alix Klineman (Team USA, Olympic Champions in Tokyo 2021) both off the whole season due to shoulder surgeries.
