About 4cm… that was the difference between winning and losing the Women’s AA title for round 6 of the Vic Beach State tour.
In what was her first ever foray into the women’s AA division, Beatriz De Freitas and partner Kaidi Roosimagi made it through the entire day undefeated… but for those 4cm.
“Bea took the step up into AA and proved not only to the crowd watching, but to herself, that she has a big future on the beach…”
Fifteen teams were competing in what was clearly the toughest round of the season to date, and of all the pools, Bea and Kaidi’s was the most talent-stacked. They had fellow VBVA Tier One crew members and State U23 representatives Eleri and Louise, current U17s Australian champ Carrie and eventual winners American pair Ally Henthorn and Lauren Klinkhamer.
Bea and Kaidi only just scraped through against the Americans in the pool round; beating them in three. That result coupled with two further straight set wins saw them take on Koutsoukis and Kuklych in the quarters; winning that in three sets.
They had to do it the hard way in their semi-final too, coming from a set down to defeat international pair Albertson and Hejretova in three. The effort put into the semi rewarded them with a chance to replicate their result against the Americans from the pool round.
It was tight, but Ally and Lauren pulled out the win, reversing the pool round score and winning a close third set… with a serve – out by a few cm – ending it.
“Bea took the step up into AA and proved not only to the crowd watching, but to herself, that she has a big future on the beach,” said VBVA Head coach Brett Middlin.
“To make a AA final first time out, against such strong, open age opposition and get so close to winning… that is a fantastic achievement for a 16-year-old.”
When interviewed after the tournament, Bea was delighted: “Initially I was a little down having lost what was such a close final, but a few minutes of reflection and it’s easily the best feeling I’ve had in the sport to date. I am so happy with the result, and hopefully it can be a springboard to achieving my goals for the remainder of the season!”
Congratulations Bea!
