Two underdog teams who began their journey in the qualification rounds have made a stunning advance to the semifinals of the Beach Pro Tour Challenge in Alanya, Türkiye, underscoring the unpredictable and exciting nature of this year's competition.
Brazilian pair George Wanderley and Saymon Barbosa have powered through a challenging field. Starting with a qualifier on Wednesday, they have recorded six consecutive wins. Their path included a nail-biting 2-1 triumph over Austria’s Christoph Dressler and Philipp Waller, followed by a straight-set victory over Germany’s Sven Winter and Lukas Pfretzschner in the quarterfinals. This marks the pair’s first semifinal appearance on the Beach Pro Tour.
Meanwhile, France’s Téo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat have had a flawless run, remaining unbeaten so far. They overcame fellow Frenchmen Rémi Bassereau and Calvin Aye in the Round of 16 and went on to dominate Americans Miles Evans and Chase Budinger in two straight sets in the quarterfinals.
The semifinal matches, to be held at Alanya’s Beach Sports Center, present intense matchups:
- George and Saymon vs. reigning world champions Ondřej Perušič and David Schweiner of Czechia, who themselves earned their semifinal berth after a gritty win over Austria’s Tim Berger and Timo Hammarberg.
- Rotar and Gauthier-Rat vs. Australian duo Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher, who are riding a wave of momentum after two dramatic three-set victories, one of which was against German Olympians Clemens Wickler and Nils Ehlers.
The medal matches will be held on Sunday evening with the bronze medal match at 19:00 local time, followed by the gold medal final at 20:00. With Olympians in the mix and breakout performances from new pairings, the competition is expected to deliver high drama.
Fans can follow the live matches on VBTV.
