Argentina’s Juan Amieva & Maciel Bueno win men’s gold in Asuncion, Paraguay; two Empowerment golds
Pairs from Empowerment-funded Paraguay and Argentina dominate continental circuit event – FIVB
Teams benefiting from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment funding grabbed both gold medals and one of the silvers at the fourth 2026 stop on the CSV South American Beach Volleyball Tour, which took place last week in Paraguay. Argentina’s Juan Amieva & Maciel Bueno outlasted Paraguay’s Gonzalo Melgarejo & Giuliano Massare in the men’s final, while Michelle Valiente & Giuliana Poletti Corrales delighted the home fans in Asuncion with the women’s trophy. Jonathan De Menezes & Gustavo Carvalhaes (Guto) of Brazil took third place in the men’s tournament, while their compatriots Talita Simonetti & Kyce Martins and Argentina’s Agostina Ghigliazza & Morena Marisa Abdala earned silver and bronze, respectively, on the women’s side.
The Federacion del Voleibol Argentino’s beach volleyball department has been assisted with USD 42,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their men’s national duos, trained by instructor Giuliano Mezzagno. The national beach volleyball teams of Paraguay have so far been funded with a total of USD 336,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Currently, they are trained by Brazilian coach Adriano Garrido. Paraguay’s national federation’s beach volleyball program has been granted another USD 12,000 for national team coaches development knowledge transfer programs and USD 11,000 in beach volleyball equipment.
Both Argentina’s Juan Amieva & Maciel Bueno and Paraguay’s Gonzalo Melgarejo & Giuliano Massare reached the men’s final in Asuncion undefeated in four matches each. The second-seeded Argentineans lost their first set of the tournament in their 2-1 (21-18, 17-21, 15-9) semifinal victory(pictured in the main photo; source: CSV – Confederación Sudamericana de Voleibol)over ninth-seeded compatriots Valentino Salema & Valentin Lombardo, while the top-seeded home favorites achieved a tight 2-0 (21-18, 22-20) sweep of the other semifinal against sixth-seeded Brazilians Jonathan & Guto.
Giuliano & Gonzalo took the first set of the gold medal showdown, but Amieva & Bueno came from behind to battle it out for a 2-1 (18-21, 23-21, 15-12) victory and continental gold, leaving the bracket leaders with silver.
Jonathan & Guto took the bronze after a 2-0 (21-11, 21-15) sweep of the third-place game against Salema & Lombardo.
On the women’s side, top-seeded home favorites Michelle Valiente & Giuliana Poletti Corrales lived up to their status and cruised through the tournament without dropping a single set in five matches played. In the semifinals, they put together a 2-0 (23-21, 21-11) win over 10th-seeded Agostina Ghigliazza & Morena Marisa Abdala of Argentina. In the final, Michelle & Corrales crowned their victorious quest with an emphatic 2-0 (21-13, 21-12) shutout of second-seeded Brazilians Talita Simonetti & Kyce Martins.
Talita & Kyce produced a 2-0 (21-14, 21-11) sweep of the other semifinal against third-seeded Agnes Michel Tosi & Brenda Churin of Argentina. Then, in an all-Argentinean bronze medal playoff, Ghigliazza & Abdala delivered a 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) win over Michel Tosi & Churin.
16 men’s and 16 women’s duos representing nine South American countries – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela – took part in the Asuncion tournament.
The next South American Tour stop will be the Finals in Iquique, Chile from May 15 to 17.
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