Agadir, Morocco, July 29, 2018 – 13th-seeded Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Orsi Toth won gold at the Agadir two-star stop on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour on Sunday. It was their first tournament after reuniting as a team, taking their record to six medals, two of each kind.
Second-seeded Martina Bonnerova and Sarka Nakladalova claimed the silver medals on Moroccan sand. It was the second medal for the Czech duo on the World Tour after their silver from Langkawi 2017. With a different partner, Bonnerova also won a gold medal back in 2014.
Alise Lece and Ilze Liepinlauska, seeded seventh, completed the podium. The bronze was the first ever medal for either of the two Latvian athletes.
The women’s podium at Agadir
Bonnerova and Nakladalova had control of the scoreboard throughout the first set of the final with their advantage reaching as many as five points at 12-7 and 13-8. In the end Menegatti and Orsi Toth denied the first two set points for their opponents, but on the third one Nakladalova’s precision-placed tip converted it into a 21-19 win. In the second set, however, the Czechs could not hold on to the five-point lead they had at 10-5. The Italians caught up at 14-14 and after 19-19 managed to spike two balls in a row to level the match. In the tie-breaker, Menegatti and Orsi Toth opened an early three-point lead and, although the opponents managed to draw level momentarily, the Italians quickly regained control to restore their lead and keep the pace through the 2-1 (19-21, 21-19, 15-12) close, with Orsi Toth hammering the ball down for the winning point.
Lece and Liepinlauska dominated throughout the first set of their bronze medal match against 20th-seeded Alice Gradini and Claudia Scampoli. The Italians fought back and managed to stay competitive through a 6-5 advantage in the second set. After that the Latvians broke away with four points in a row and cruised comfortably to a 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) victory, shaped up by Liepinlauska’s elegant tip in the last rally.
Bonnerova and Nakladalova defeated Lece and Liepinlauska in straight sets in the semifinal match earlier on Sunday. After a quite one-sided first set, the second was more competitive, but again in favour of the Czech duo – 2-0 (21-13, 21-19).
In the all-Italian semifinal before that, Menegatti and Orsi Toth shut out their compatriots Gradini and Scampoli by 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) to advance to the final.