Sam Schachter of North York, Ontario and Jonny Pickett of Wiarton, Ontario delivered an impressive upset on Thursday at the Elite16 Men’s Beach Volleyball tournament in Montreal, Quebec. Schachter and Pickett, who are ranked 39th in the world, upset the 14th ranked team, Elouan Chouikh and Joadel Genevieve-Gardoque of France, 21-17, 21-17.
It was in particular a notable game for Pickett. He had 19 attack points, three block points and two aces.
With the win, Canada improved to a record of one win and one loss in Pool D action. They previously lost 21-19, 21-18 to Evandro Oliveira and Arthur Lanci of Brazil.
This was the third main draw upset win in 2026 at an Elite16 Men’s Beach Volleyball match for Schachter and Pickett. The first two upsets happened in Joao Pessoa, Brazil. On March 12, Schachter and Pickett upset Hugo Campos and Joao Pedrosa of Portugal, 21-18, 16-21, 15-5, and on March 13, Schachter and Pickett upset Jonas Sagstetter and Benedikt Sagstetter of Germany, 21-17, 22-24, 15-9. Campos and Pedrodsa as well as the Sagstetters, are both ranked 26th in the world at the moment.
On Friday, first place in Pool D is on the line. At 5pm MT, Schachter and Pickett will play Andre Loyola Stein and Renato Andrew Lima De Carvalho of Brazil. The Brazilians are at two wins and zero losses, and ranked 10th in the world.
The only other Canadian team to pick up a win on Thursday were the reigning Olympic silver medalists Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes of Toronto, Ontario. In women’s action, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes won twice as they beat Ana Patricia Ramos and Carol Horta of Brazil, 21-12, 21-12, and then Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte of Lithuania, 21-13, 21-16.
