TEAM OF THE WEEK: PAVAN & HUMANA-PAREDES

Lausanne, Switzerland

On top of the world in more ways than one, the reigning world champions, 2019 Most Outstanding Women’s Team and current FIVB World Ranking leaders Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada are Volleyball World's Team of the Week.

Sarah Pavan was born into a family of volleyballers in August 1986 and is just about to turn 34 years of age. Like most beach volleyball players, the 1.96m blocker started off with indoor volleyball in her childhood years, and rose up the ranks to become a member of the Canadian national team.

Following her Olympic dream, in 2013 Pavan switched to the sand, pairing up with Heather Bansley, and they made it happen. Three years later, the pair played at the Rio Olympics, where they did not lose a single set before their quarterfinal encounter with champions-to-be Laura Ludwig & Kira Walkenhorst of Germany.

"The Olympics is something I've been pursuing my entire life. It has been the ultimate goal since I was old enough to comprehend what it really meant.  If I didn't try beach volleyball I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life," Pavan told CBC at the time. "But at the last Olympics it was incredibly disappointing to miss a medal. For the longest time, just getting there was the goal. It was elusive for so long. But then you get there and it's crazy how quickly your goals evolve."

On the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, Pavan & Bansley achieved six medal finishes, but never quite managed to top the podium. For Sarah it happened soon after the pair split up and she joined forces with Melissa Humana-Paredes.

27-year-old Humana-Paredes was born in 1992 in Canada into a family of Chilean expatriates. Her father Hernan Humana, a former member of his country’s indoor national team, started coaching beach upon moving to Canada and led a Canadian men’s duo to Olympic bronze in 1996.

“I was four years old then and beach volleyball, the Olympic journey and the Olympic dream were influencing my life,” the 1.75m-tall defender said. “That’s how I got started and that’s what sparked my journey in the game.”

Humana-Paredes started playing beach volleyball at the age of 12. From 2009 through 2014, she represented Canada at a number of Age-Category FIVB World Championships, winning one silver and two bronze medals. She debuted on the World Tour in 2011, but it was not before 2014 when Melissa Humana-Paredes & Taylor Pischke became regulars.

It was only after teaming up with Sarah Pavan, however, that Melissa won her first World Tour medal. That was a 2017 Rio de Janeiro four-star silver at their second appearance on the Tour as a pair.

"Four years ago I was just stoked to be given the opportunity to play with Sarah. I had a lot I wanted to prove, but I wasn't sure how I was going to rise to the occasion. Our development as a team and my development as an athlete surprised me, and continue to surprise me, mostly with how quickly we gelled and how quickly we began fine-tuning our game," Humana-Paredes added. "I honestly think our first tournament in Brazil in 2017 was pretty eye-opening because our very first time playing together at the World Tour Finals in 2016 was a bit of a mess. We put in serious work in that off-season, but we didn't have anything to measure our progress up against. So when we began competing and beating good teams in Rio, I felt we were definitely headed in the right direction.”

Pavan and Humana-Paredes did not have to wait much longer to win their first World Tour title. Some six weeks later, they topped the Porec Major five-star podium.

“Our first gold was an absolute dream. Winning no longer became just a possibility, but a goal and standard," Humana-Paredes said.

The Canadian team became final four regulars and over the course of three seasons compiled an impressive World Tour showcase of five gold, four silver and one bronze and peaked at the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Hamburg, where they claimed the title after beating USA’s 2-0 (23-21, 23-21) in the final.

“2019 was definitely a dream season,” Pavan exclaimed. “We were able to achieve one of our biggest athletic goals in becoming world champions and made history in the sport in our country. Winning some other key events along the way as well made 2019 a year to remember. I think our team really settled into a place of comfort in our relationships and routines, and that made a really big difference for us on the court. We had some ups and downs during the World Championship, we had our backs against the wall in the semifinal, but we always found a way to fight through and come out on top. Pulling from that experience in Hamburg will serve us in a big way in future events, especially during the tough moments.”

Winning the World Championship gold also qualified a Canadian pair for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

“The winning feelings have made us hungrier and more focused ahead of Tokyo,” said Humana-Paredes. “Heading in as world champs, it's easy to pick us as the favourites, but I think there are many teams in the top 10 that could also be selected as favourites in their own right. The only thing we can do is just focus on what we can do better, because that's all that we can control."

"We’re very happy that we have our spot in the Olympics,” Pavan commented in an interview for Beach Inside. “I know that many teams are really stressed right now and I’m just very grateful that this is something we don’t have to think about. Just knowing we’re going no matter what is nice.”

The coronavirus pandemic temporarily put a stop to the team's quest and postponed the Olympics by a year, but the Canadian standouts recently made their comeback winning a silver and two bronze medals on USA’s AVP Champions Cup three-stop tour in July and August.

AMIT GULIA HOPES FOR INDIA’S VOLLEYBALL RENAISSANCE

 

India's Amit Gulia

Lausanne, Switzerland, June 27, 2020 – Amit Gulia is optimistic that recent age-group achievements could help spark a renaissance in Indian volleyball.



India has a rich history in volleyball and has enjoyed several successes at the continental level, collecting a silver and two bronze medals at the Asian Games. The South Asian team, however, is now seeking to end a 34-year medal drought.

Last year, the Indians took a first step in the right direction when they collected a medal at the Asian Men’s U23 Championship in Naypyidaw, Myanmar. Captain Amit Gulia played an integral part in the team’s successful run. He was the team’s top scorer, recording double-digit outputs in all his matches to claim a podium finish as runners-up.

Amit made his senior team debut in 2018, when India competed at the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. After that, his Asian Men’s U23 Championship performance earned him a spot in the senior team that won gold at the South Asian Championship in Nepal. He also saw action at the Tokyo Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament in China.

“I played at the Asian Games in 2018, the Asian Men’s Championship, Asian Men’s U23 Volleyball Championship and the South Asian Games in 2019, and the AVC Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament this year,” the 22-year-old said.

“In terms of medals, I have won a gold medal at the South Asian Games and for the first time in our history, we finished as runners-up at the Asian Men’s U23 Volleyball Championship.”



Amit’s proudest moment was being selected as a starter in the Olympic Qualification Tournament. Even though the team did not qualify for Tokyo 2020, the young Indian outside hitter gave it his best shot, as the team’s leading scorer.

“The biggest success in my career so far is to be selected in India’s starting six at the Olympic Qualification Tournament, which is a very important tournament for any team. I was also my team’s best scorer.”

He has come a long way in a relatively short span of time, with the help of his coaches who urged him to keep going until he earned a spot in the national team.

“I started playing volleyball in 2008 when I was ten years old. I had many coaches who motivated me a lot to keep going with volleyball. They constantly encouraged me to reach my dreams.

“First, I was playing at the school level, then at university level until I finally found my way into the national level. I practised a lot to be able to reach my full potential and to play for my country.

“All of these things need commitment. And at every stage I was involved in, I always tried my best to show quality in my performance. When I was young, I always focused on playing at the national team level. As you grow older, you play at a higher level which requires you to be more technical and professional.”



Amit has big dreams and hopes he can go some way to following in the steps of his idol, Olympic gold medallist and former world champion Giba of Brazil.

“My volleyball idol is Giba of Brazil,” he said. “I wish one day India will be able to participate in the Olympic Games. Volleyball has big potential in India. We have a lot of talented volleyball athletes.”

For now he is working on his own game and trying to become one of the country’s leading players.

“I am playing at a national club and I am trying to gain as many supporters as possible before moving up into the international arena. I am putting all my focus right now on elevating my skills and improving the quality of my game to be able to participate in more international events.”