Raïsa Zonnemijn SchoonIt couldn't be better.
The Elite 16 tournament can be called the Champions League of beach volleyball. In this series of tournaments, organized by the world volleyball association FIVB, the 16 highest-ranked teams in the world compete. The Olympic medal winners also participate. The tournament was played in Rosarito, Mexico.
Werkendam's Raïsa Schoon and her partner Katja Stam started the tournament in the qualification, so they had to play to get a place in the main tournament. They succeeded, among other things by beating the strong German duo Borger-Sude.
In the main tournament, they encountered almost the entire world top on the other side of the net. Brazilian top teams and also Olympic champion April Ross were defeated, after which the Latvian duo Graudina/Kravcenoka, a team that had been defeated 2-1 during the European Championship last year, were defeated in the final.
Raïsa and Katja left no doubt as to who the title was for, they won very convincingly with 21-14 and 21-13. With this great performance they also took a giant step up the world rankings, where they are now in second place.
