Looks familiar, doesn’t it, Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes winning beach volleyball matches? Finishing tournaments on top of podiums, as they have now done in their previous four tournaments, culminating in Sunday’s 21-18, 21-16 gold medal victory in Doha, Qatar, over Brazil’s Duda and Ana Patricia to claim the title of 2022 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Finals champions.
For the better part of four years, the world was bereft of that sight, as Cheng and Hughes, after the most dynastic run in NCAA beach volleyball history, split to play and grow with different partners. So what do you call this phase of their new but familiar partnership? It’s the second coming of a honeymoon, of sorts, as Cheng and Hughes have reunited better, more mature, more lethal versions of the kids from USC who once won 103 consecutive matches. Four tournaments they’ve played now, and four tournaments they’ve won, beginning with an AVP Tour Series in Huntington Beach in November, which preceded dominant wins in Torquay, Australia.
But to do the same in Doha, Qatar, this weekend, against the stiffest field certainly of the season, potentially in beach volleyball history, is testament enough that this is no honeymoon phase. Cheng and Hughes are, simply, one of the best teams in the world.
What’s more, the victory paid them a whopping $150,000. Lisboa and Silva took home $80K.
“I’m speechless right now,” said Cheng, who topped the tournament in kills, leading second-place Katja Stam of the Netherlands by nearly 30.
If there were a single drawback, one subtle reservation, about Cheng and Hughes entering Doha, it was the fact that the three tournaments they won were relatively light. The AVP was only a Tour Series, and the Challenge and Elite 16 events in Torquay were notably bereft of some of the top teams in the world.
The Beach Pro Tour Finals, however, were bereft of no talent. It featured the top eight teams in the world and two additional wild cards — Cheng and Hughes, and Canadians Sarah Pavan and Sophie Bukovec. Their path to the finals required victories over Germans Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillman, owners of a bronze medal at the 2022 World Championship. It required two comeback wins over Dutch wunderkinds Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam, first in pool play, and again in the semifinals. It required a world’s worth of grit in a 19-21, 21-14, 24-22 quarterfinal win over Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth. And it required little shy of…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Volleyballmag.com…