2017 begins with a bang!

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The women's 1-2-3 take the acclaim at the medals ceremony

What a start to the season it was for Brazil and Larissa/Talita! The 2015 Swatch World Tour Final champs were in magnificent form as they clinched gold for the second time here in Fort Lauderdale.

And after their epic triumph over fellow Brazilians Agatha/Duda in the women’s final, Talita said it was the perfect start to what promises to be a long and exciting 2017 season for the duo.

“It feels good!” she told us. “To begin this year with a gold medal is really nice and it shows that we are doing our job in the best way.

“Next week we have a tournament in Brazil but after that we will train for a long time and prepare for what’s going to be a long season!”

Silver medalist Agatha – who also won silver at the Olympics back in August – had the same sentiments, especially considering it was she and Duda’s first tournament together. 

“It’s the perfect start to a new team and a new season,” she said. “We’re very, very happy.

“In the final I don’t think we had enough rest before. We were a little tired but that’s to be expected in a tournament like this.”

There was joy for Europe in a tournament dominated by the Brazilians and Americans, as Germans Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude claimed bronze after an excellent victory over Brooke Sweat and Summer Ross.

“It took us 10-15 minutes to get losing the semifinal out of our minds but we ate a banana, discussed our tactics and came out for the bronze medal match and we’re really happy with it,” said Chantal.

“We’ve played some good games here but we could have played better in others. However, we learn from all of our mistakes and that can only make us better.”

Remember you can watch all of the action back on our ‘watch again’ section of the BeachStream. Click here to sign-up for the summer season and watch back every single match from the Fort Lauderdale Major.