Humana-Paredes, Wilkerson gets stuck in the Ostrava beach volleyball Olympic berth

OSTRAVA — Canadian beach volleyball duo Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson finished second in the World Pro Tour’s Ostrava Elite 16 on Sunday, losing to defending world champions Kelly Cheng and Sarah Hughes of the United States .

Toronto’s Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, who clinched their Olympic spot in Paris through their seeding, were defeated 13-21, 23-21,12-15 by the Americans.

The Canadians swept Latvia’s Tīna Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova 21-18, 21-18 in the semifinals earlier on Sunday.

“We are so proud to finish qualifying for the Olympics with a medal,” said Humana-Paredes. “We’ve been fighting all week and things are picking up. We fell short in the final by a few points but there are so many good things to take from it and it’s always a battle with Kelly and Sara.”

Cheng and Hughes were ranked fifth in the world, ahead of the Canadians at No. 6.

Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson earned their place in Paris by ranking among the top 17 teams in the world based on their best dozen tournament results between January 1, 2023 and June 9, 2024.

Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson formed a team after both were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics with other partners. They took the bronze in Ostrava last year.

The pair won a silver medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, where they lost in the final to world No. 1 Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduarda “Duda” Santos Lisboa of Brazil.

Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan of Kitchener, Ontario won a women’s world title in 2019.

Canada will attempt to qualify additional teams for Paris at a NORCECA Continental Qualifying Tournament June 19-24 in Tlaxcala, Mexico.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press