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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 19, 2023) – In the final beach update of 2023, we take a look at the results of the two most recent NORCECA tournaments, both of which took place in Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic. The U23 Continental Tour and the Tour Finals closed out the competition schedule until the new year, so we will look one more time at the rankings. The U.S. also did well at the King and Queen of the Court series.
NORCECA Final
The U.S. is bringing home two medals from the NORCECA Final in Juan Dolio as both teams finished on the podium.
Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft took gold. The pair defeated Allanis Navas/Maria Gonzalez (PUR) 2-1 (21-19, 18-21, 16-14) in the semis and faced Sarah Pavan/Molley McBain (CAN) in the final where they also won 2-1 (21-16, 14-21, 15-11).
Andy Benesh and Miles Partain earned bronze. The U.S. men lost to Sam Schachter/Dan Dearing (CAN) 0-2 (16-21, 19-21) in the semis but rebounded in the bronze-medal match by beating Ruben Mora/Jefferson Cascante (NCA) 2-0 (21-16, 21-9).
NORCECA U23 Continental Tour
Prior to the Beach Final, Juan Dolio also hosted the U23 Continental Tour. The U.S. team claimed three medals at the conclusion of the tournament.
Tate Calles and Brendan Onishchenko earned silver. The men’s pair defeated teammates Sebastian Rodriguez/Kyle Paulson 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) in the semis to advance to the gold-medal match, where they fell to Nolsen Diaz/Jorge Alayo (CUB) 0-2 (15-21, 13-21). Rodriguez/Paulson finished the tournament in fourth place.
Sierra Caffo and Ella Larkin also took silver. The U.S. duo made it to the gold-medal match by defeating teammates Xolani Hodel/Delaynie Maple in the semis 2-1 (21-15, 16-21, 17-15). In the final, Caffo/Larkin fell to Amanda Armenteros/Maykelin Drik (CUB) 0-2 (19-21, 18-21).
Hodel/Maple rebounded in the battle for third, defeating Katarina Pantovic/Erika Vermette (CAN) 2-0 (21-11, 21-17) to claim the third medal for the U.S. at the U23 Continental Tour.
Queen and King of the Court
The Crown Series Finals of Queen and King of the Court were held in Doha, Qatar, Dec. 13-16. with several U.S. representatives.
Corinne Quiggle partnered with Germany’s Julia Sude and made it to the finals, but they were knocked out after round one. Katjia Stam/Raisa Schoon (NED) went on to win the event.
On the King side, Americans Logan Webber and Jake Urrutia partnered, and Troy Field partnered with Slovenia’s Nejc Zemljak. Both teams made it to round 3 of semifinal B and round 3 of semifinal C. Webber/Urrutia made it through to the final but did not advance past the first round.
Rankings
The final rankings check of the season has Miles Partain and Andy Benesh earning valuable points to move up the provisional Olympic rankings.
With their latest medal finish, Partain/Benesh vaulted into the No. 4 position in the provisional Olympic rankings with 7,620 points on 10 tournaments played. They share No. 4 with Evandro Goncalves/Arthur Lanci (BRA), who have 7,800 points on 13 tournaments played.
In the world rankings, Partain/Benesh are tied for the No. 3 spot with Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner (CZE). Each team has 7,020 points, although Perusic/Schweiner have played in three fewer tournaments.
Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner occupy the No. 11 position in the provisional Olympic rankings with 6,920 points on 12 tournaments played. Right behind them at No. 12 are Chase Budinger/Miles Evans with 6480 points on 13 tournaments played.
In the world rankings, Crabb/Brunner are No. 16 with 5,440 points. Budinger/Evans are No. 20 with 5,040 points.
Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk are in a four-way tie at the No. 15 spot in the provisional Olympic rankings with 6,080 points. They are No. 24 in the world ranking with 4760 points.
The women’s rankings shuffle out positioning from a week ago based on point totals at the end of the year. 2023 BPT Finals Champions Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss have 10,260 points in the provisional Olympic rankings on 13 tournaments played. This puts them at No. 2. Ana Patricia Santos/Eduarda Duda (BRA) take sole possession of first place with 11,060 points on 12 tournaments played.
Carol Seixas/Barbara Salgado (BRA) are No. 3 with 9, 640 points. World champions Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes are in the provisional Olympic No. 4 spot with 9,040 points, as well as the W designating a quota place obtained for winning the 2023 World Championship.
In the world rankings, 300 points separate the top two U.S. teams. Kloth/Nuss are No. 2 with 8,140 points. World champions Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes are world No. 3 with 7,840 points and one fewer tournament played. Both pairs are behind Ana Patricia/Duda (BRA) who are No. 1 with 9,540 points.
Julia Scoles and Betsi Flint are still world No. 14 with 5,360 points. They are tied for No. 9 in provisional Olympic rankings with 6,740 points and 11 tournaments played.
Current World Rankings – Women
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In this week's beach update, we look to BPT Challenge Chiang Mai that will feature several U.S. Beach National Teams. This comes after U.S. pairs competed in NORCECA Playoff 4 in in Manhattan Beach this past weekend to earn Olympic points. We also have results from the U.S. pairs who were competing at the U21 Beach World Championships, and we check in on the most current Olympic rankings.
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