Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson of Toronto, Ontario, won the silver medal at the Elite 16 Women’s Beach Volleyball event in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday. The silver medal in Doha was the third Elite 16 medal won together by Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson in women’s beach volleyball. Last year they already won two medals – gold in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and bronze in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
In Doha, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson finished second in Pool D with a record of two wins and one loss. They defeated the German duo Laura Ludwig and Louisa Lippmann 21-17, 21-17 and the Chinese duo Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi with 21:18, 21:18. Their only defeat was suffered by Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova with a score of 10-21, 24-22, 15-13.
In the round of 16, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson defeated the Brazilian duo Agatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti 16:21, 21:17, 15:11 and then beat another Brazilian team in Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Duda Santos Lisboa in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson got revenge on Graudina and Samoilova as they advanced with a 21-17, 20-22, 15-12 win. In the final, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson then faced another Brazilian team in Carolina Solberg Salgado and Barbara Seixas before losing 21-18, 21-18. Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng from the USA won bronze. The silver medal for Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson will give them confidence as they prepare 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
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