Canadian pair advances to quarterfinals of Gstaad

GSTAAD, Switzerland, July 12, 2019 - Canada’s Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes advanced to quarterfinals of the Gstaad Major Five-Star tournament in Switzerland on Friday. 

The Canadian team, also defending Gstaad champions, beat Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka of Latvia 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) today, and will face Ana Patricia and Rebecca of Brazil Saturday in the quarterfinals.

"It was a tough match against a strong young Latvian team. We were able to manage the pace of the game well with our serving, something we’ll need to really utilize against our next opponents," said Humana-Paredes.

The Canadian pair is coming off its World Championship win last week in Hamburg.

"It’s been a unique challenge to have to play so quickly after such a momentous week last week, but I think we’ve managed it well and have used that momentum for Gstaad. … We’re taking it one game at a time, and continuing to work on all the little things. We are happy that we have played some solid ball and continued to maintain a high level of play."

Also today, Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson and Heather Bansley were eliminated in the second round of playoffs by Ana Patricia/Rebecca of Brazil 2-0 (21-16, 21-15). 

On the men’s side, the top Canadian finishers are Sam Pedlow and Sam Schachter who lost a battle with the Czech team of Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner 1-2 (26-24, 16 -21, 16-18) in the playoffs.