Aydin, Turkey, May 19, 2019 – Maria Voronina and Mariia Bocharova continued to demonstrate their potential at the Aydin 2-Star on Sunday when they won their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold medals.
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The Russians beat Ukraine’s Diana Lunina and Maryna Samoday 2-1 (21-17, 16-21, 16-14), a team who were chasing their third World Tour gold of 2019.
Voronina, 19 and Bocharova, 17 enjoyed a stellar 2018 at age-group level when they won gold at the Nanjing 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships and Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
In the bronze medal match Switzerland’s Dunja Gerson and Laura Caluori defeated Canada’s Taylor Pischke and Sophie Bukovec 2-0 (21-14, 21-14). It is Gerson and Caluori’s first World Tour medal as a pairing since they teamed up at the start of 2018.
The tournament took place in Ataturk City Square in the centre of Aydin and it is the second year the city has hosted a 2-Star event. In 2018 Cuba’s Mailen Deliz and Leila Martinez won women’s gold, while Serbia’s Stefan Basta and Lazar Kolaric topped the men’s podium.