DOHA, Qatar — Toronto's Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson opened the World Beach Pro Tour finals Wednesday by sweeping Sarah Hughes and Kelly Cheng of the United States.
The Canadian duo ranked fourth in the world knocked off the No. 3 Americans 23-21, 21-16 in Doha.
The finals features the top eight teams plus two wild-card entries per gender, with a total of US$800,000 in prize money on the table.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson competed for the first time since earning a Pan American Games silver medal Oct. 27 in Santiago, Chile for Canada's first Pan Am medal in women's beach volleyball.
The Canadians play two matches Thursday.
They meet the world No. 12 Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova of Latvia before facing No. 1 Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduarda "Duda" Santos Lisboa of Brazil.
The Brazilians defeated Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson for gold in Santiago.
The top three teams in each pool advance to the final six. The semifinals and finals are Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2023.
The Canadian Press
