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POREC, Croatia, June 6, 2015 – Brazilians Talita Antunes and
Larissa Franca have now won back-to-back FIVB World Tour gold
medals by defeating Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan of Canada
for the title at the US$800,000 Porec Major on Saturday.
Playing for gold in the inaugural SWATCH Major Series event, the
top-seeded Talita and Larissa posed a 2-1 (21-16, 25-27, 15-12)
win in 46 minutes over 17th-seeded Bansley and Pavan, who were
playing in the second FIVB World Tour finale in the past three
weeks after netting the silver medal in the Czech Republic where
they lost the Prague finale to another Brazilian pair.
With the win, Talita and Larissa avenged twice this week their
only setback this season as the Canadians had defeated the
Brazilians at last week’s Moscow Grand Slam in pool play.
Talita and Larissa, who defeated Bansley and Pavan in pool play
this week, have now won 42 of their last 43 matches on the FIVB
World Tour. The Brazilians had a 29-straight winning streak
before losing to Bansley and Pavan in the Russian capital.
With their sixth gold medal in eight international starts
together, Talita and Larissa shared the $57,000 first-place
prize along with garnering 800 points to improve their FIVB
World Tour rank fourth after playing in only two of the five
women’s events this season. Bansley and Pavan, the No. 3-ranked
team with four events this season, split $43,000 for
second-place along with gathering 720 points.
In the bronze medal match, Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy of
Australia scored a 2-0 (21-15, 21-17) win in 35 minutes over
Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas of Canada. The Aussies split
$32,000 for third and Broder/Valjas shared $24,000 for
fourth-place. |
