Lucerne, Switzerland, May 16, 2015 - Venezuela’s Jackson Henriquez and Jesus Villafane sweep Brazilians Álvaro Filho/ Vitor Felipe 2:0 (21-16, 21-10) in all-South-American duel. Now the Venezuelans want to battle for their first-ever semis berth together.
A big South American clash waited in men’s Round 2 at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Lucerne Open 2015: Venezuela’s Jackson/Fañe faced Brazilian youngsters Álvaro Filho/ Vitor Felipe to battle for the berth in Round 3.
And the Venezuelans started with an incredibly high pace into this big matchup; the Brazilians, on the other hand, were over-challenged by the Venezuelan attack waves and trailed 6-11. The youngsters from the North of Brazil did better afterwards, but eventually weren’t able to close the gap – and lost the first set 21-16.
The Venezuelans were on fire now; they played their best Beach Volleyball – and literally rolled over the Brazilian youngsters from João Pessoa; Jackson/Fañe started with a five-point-run into the second set and finished it with an impressive 21-10. The Brazilians had no chance and had to accept a bitter defeat.
Unsurprisingly, Álvaro Filho couldn’t hide his disappointment: “We didn’t find to our game – it just didn’t work today. We both know that we can do better.”
Venezuelan Jesus Fañe took a positive stock. “We played a great game today – I think our willingness to succeed was a main factor for our win. I’d wish we always played like this,” Fañe explained after the game. Nevertheless, the 28-years-old doesn’t want to rest on their laurels. “Now we want to make Venezuelan history and make the semis at a big FIVB World Tour tournament for the first time,” Fañe added.
Teammate Henriquez Jackson, on the other hand, wants to focus on the big Beach Volleyball events waiting this year. “We started our Olympic cycle in Fuzhou two weeks ago. This is going to be a big year for us, even more since we are going to compete at the Pan American Cup and at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Champs,” Jackson says.
Both teams are looking forward to the big Beach Volleyball highlight of the year, where they could meet again. “The 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship in The Hague is without a doubt our main goal this year – not only because we want to gather as much points as possible to qualify for Rio 2016,” Jackson explains.