Canada’s Wilkerson, Bukovec defeat Germany to clinch spot in beach volleyball worlds final | CBC Sports

Canada’s Sophie Bukovec and Brandi Wilkerson have only played four tournaments together, but they are peaking at the right time. 

The new Canadian pair punched their ticket to the FIVB beach volleyball world championship final on Saturday with a 2-1 semifinal win over Germany’s Cinja Tillman and Svenja Muller. 

Of all the games the Canadian duo has played through the tournament, the semifinal might have been the simplest, at least on the scoresheet, as Wilkerson and Bukovec won the first and third sets 21-15 while dropping the second by the same score. 

“It’s a dream. I’m so grateful and so honoured to be here,” Bukovec said after the semifinal win. “To play on this stage and to play in a final is incredible. Playing with Brandi is awesome.”

The Toronto-based pair were perfect through pool play, defeating teams from Switzerland, Italy, the U.S. and France, before getting by Thailand, Italy and a second German team in the knockout stages. 

The pair have clinched themselves a world championship medal and finish as the best of the three Canadian pairs that competed at the tournament. Fellow Canadians and 2019 world champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes saw their title hopes dashed in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Megan and Nicole McNamara fell out of the round of 32. 

Bukovec and Wilkerson will take on Brazil’s Ana Patricia and Duda for the gold medal at 2:00 p.m ET on Sunday. The match can be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.