The next few days will follow a pattern Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patricia Ramos have established over the last nine months. They will wake up in the morning and head to Praia Clube to play beach volleyball.

However, instead of having training partners Victoria Lopes and Taina Bigi across the net for one of their practise sessions, the reigning world champions will face some of the top teams on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour as Uberlandia stages an Elite16 event from November 9-13.

· Watch all matches at the Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Uberlandia live on Volleyball TV. The qualifiers will also be available on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel.

Now the number one team in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking, following their third-place finish in Cape Town last Sunday, the 24-year-old Duda and the 25-year-old Ana Patricia have been living in Uberlandia since they became partners, in February.

The Brazilians, who lived in Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza when they played with their previous partners, were the first players selected to be a part of Praia Clube’s beach volleyball programme, which also includes Victoria and Taina and Brazil’s men’s team of Bruno Schmidt and Saymon Barbosa.

“This will be a challenging tournament because of the long trip from South Africa, so we’ll need to listen to our bodies and be mentally strong,” Duda said. “But we’ll be playing at home, on the courts where we practice every day, and we’ll do our best to get a good result. It will be very special to play a tournament at Praia, which is our home, and we’re determined to give our best.”

Uberlandia Elite16 - Match Schedule

One of seven Brazilian teams guaranteed a place in the main draw, Duda and Ana Patricia enter the Uberlandia Elite16 as the top-seeded women’s pair and in great form after they won medals at the last four international tournaments they participated in – gold at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Rome and the Gstaad Elite16, and bronze at the Paris and Cape Town Elite16 events.

Duda and Ana Patricia, who played and won the South American Beach Volleyball Tour Finals held at Praia Clube back in May, were placed in the all-Brazilian Pool A, where they will face Cape Town Elite16 winners Talita Antunes and Thamela Coradello, veterans Maria Elisa Antonelli and Fernanda Berti and the new tandem of Ana Luiza Mohr and Carol Horta.

“We’re really excited for this tournament, but it will also be a very difficult one,” Ana Patricia commented. “The goal, as always, will be to do our best. My family will be watching and our entire coaching staff will be there, and I’m really looking forward to experiencing it.”

Duda and Ana Patricia are one of the 16 teams that will compete on the women's side of the Uberlandia Elite16 main draw. The duos are initially split into four pools and the top two tandems in each will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played on Saturday, as well as the semifinals. The medal matches will take place on Sunday.

Quick links:
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Uberlandia Elite16
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube