The Canadian men’s team of Daniel Dearing of Toronto, Ontario, and Sam Schachter of North York, Ontario have stayed alive at the 2022 World Beach Volleyball Championships in Rome, Italy. On Monday, Dearing and Schachter defeated Christiaan Varenhorst and Steven Van de Velde 21-16, 11-21, 15-9 to win their first match of the entire tournament.
With the win, Canada improved to a record of one win and two losses. Unlike most tournaments that use the head-to-head format when determining a tie-breaker, the World Beach Volleyball Championships uses the overall set and points ratio to determine the higher placing. Even though Dearing and Schachter lost to Poland earlier in the tournament, (who they were tied in the standings with at 1-2), the Canadians finished ahead of Poland, and in third place, because they won one more set than the Poles. Canada won three sets, while Poland won two sets in Pool B action.
Canada will now play Juan Ramon Virgen Pulido and Miguel Sarabia of Mexico in one of four lucky loser third place playoff matches on Tuesday. Virgen Pulido and Sarabia finished in third place in Pool C with a record of one win and two losses.
Meanwhile in women’s action, Sarah Pavan of Kitchener, Ontario and Melissa Humana-Paredes of Toronto, Ontario, won Pool J. They remain undefeated at 3-0 with a 25-23, 21-19 win over Chantal Laboureur and Sarah Schulz of Germany.
