TAFC - Etapa 52: Rafinha e Amanda crowned champions in João Pessoa
Rafinha e Amanda are the champions of TAFC, Etapa 52, in João Pessoa. The title run came out of the repechage, day by day, with the numbers behind every match.
TAFC got under way on Friday, 27 February 2026, in João Pessoa - PB.
Three days and 21 matches later, the title went to Amanda e Rafinha, who lost before the semifinals, dropped into the repechage and won 5 matchups in a row to lift the trophy the long way round.
Areia Score tracked 21 matches play by play, logging 1,827 actions. Below: the full podium, the individual standouts and the numbers behind the tournament.
Friday: the TAFC qualifier
Day one belonged to the qualifier, the way into the main draw. Four duos came through: Bia Rio e Lunna, Pamela e Mari Ciasca, Carol e Malu and Mari Onda e Lissa.
Saturday: the main draw in João Pessoa
The pro draw opened on 28 February 2026, with 16 duos. It runs as a double elimination: a loss drops you into the repechage with a way back, a win keeps you in the winners bracket.
Four duos went through the winners bracket unbeaten and booked a direct place in Sunday's quarterfinals: Madu e Mari Cipriani, Ju Picciani e Nila, Josy e Vanessa and Natalia e Ray.
Madu e Mari Cipriani beat Lana e Monique 18 x 14 and Amanda e Rafinha 18 x 15.
Ju Picciani e Nila beat Pamela e Mari Ciasca 20 x 18 and Tais e Lorenna 18 x 15.
Josy e Vanessa beat Carol e Malu 18 x 11 and Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo 18 x 15.
Natalia e Ray beat Mari Onda e Lissa 18 x 6 and Aninha e Livia 18 x 15.
Saturday sent a big name down to the repechage too: Amanda e Rafinha lost to Madu e Mari Cipriani 18 x 15 and had no margin for error from there.
Sunday: the TAFC decider
The quarterfinals
Madu e Mari Cipriani v Ju Picciani e Nila
Madu e Mari Cipriani beat Ju Picciani e Nila 18 x 11.
Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.
Josy e Vanessa v Natalia e Ray
Natalia e Ray beat Josy e Vanessa 18 x 10.
Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.
The repechage quarterfinals
Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo v Ju Picciani e Nila
Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo beat Ju Picciani e Nila 18 x 10.
Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.
Amanda e Rafinha v Josy e Vanessa
Amanda e Rafinha beat Josy e Vanessa 18 x 10.
Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.
Into the 1 March 2026 decider, the four duos that reached the semifinals were Natalia e Ray and Madu e Mari Cipriani, through the winners bracket, and Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo and Amanda e Rafinha, back from the repechage.
The semifinals
Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo 1 x 2 Natalia e Ray
The opener went point for point, and Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo edged it 18 x 16. Natalia e Ray hit back hard in the second, 10 x 2, to level the matchup. It came down to the last game, and Natalia e Ray settled it 10 x 3.
Every game point by point on Areia Score: game 1, game 2, game 3.
Amanda e Rafinha 2 x 0 Madu e Mari Cipriani
The opener went point for point, and Amanda e Rafinha edged it 18 x 16. Amanda e Rafinha backed it up in the second, 18 x 14, to close the matchup out.
Every game point by point on Areia Score: game 1, game 2.
Third-place match
Madu e Mari Cipriani beat Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo 1 x 0.
Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.
The final
Amanda e Rafinha beat Natalia e Ray 18 x 15.
Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.
Ray led the scoring in the decider, with 6 attack points.
Amanda e Rafinha take the title.
The champions' run at TAFC
Amanda e Rafinha went through 7 matchups across the weekend and won the last 5 in a row. The full road, from the slip to the title:
- First round: beat Bia Rio e Lunna 18 x 10
- Round of 16: lost to Madu e Mari Cipriani 15 x 18
- Losers round 3: beat Nuala e Emili 18 x 12
- Losers round 2: beat Lane e Sabrina 18 x 9
- Losers round 4: beat Josy e Vanessa 18 x 10
- Semifinals: beat Madu e Mari Cipriani 2 to 0 (18 x 16, 18 x 14)
- Final: beat Natalia e Ray 18 x 15
Podium
- 1º Rafinha e Amanda (+2,000 ranking points)
- 2º Ray e Natalia (+1,400 ranking points)
- 3º Madu e Mari (+1,000 ranking points)
- 4º Iza e Rafa (+800 ranking points)
Ray e Natalia finished as runners-up and Madu e Mari completed the podium.
Individual standouts
Top scorer: Rafinha, 43 attack points for Rafinha e Amanda.
Best conversion: Rafa Ganzo, 45.7% conversion (16 points from 35 attacks).
Top defender: Amanda, 61 defenses across 8 matches.
Foot points (shark): Ray, 2 points.
Head points: Rafinha, 40 points.
The matches that mattered
Biggest comeback: Amanda e Rafinha came back from 4 points down to beat Madu e Mari Cipriani 18 x 14, in the semifinals.
Longest match: Nuala e Emili 20 x 18 Tais e Lorenna, 38 points played in total, in the losers round 2.
Every team's stat line
Everything the scout logged per team: score, attack, defense, blocks and errors. Attack, defense, blocks and errors add up the whole squad and count only the matches that were scouted.
| Team | P | W | Points for | Points against | Attack points | Defenses | Blocks | Errors | Conversion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amanda e Rafinha | 9 | 8 | 159 | 119 | 82 | 112 | 0 | 39 | 33.0% |
| Natalia e Ray | 8 | 5 | 120 | 90 | 80 | 103 | 0 | 36 | 38.5% |
| Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo | 9 | 5 | 110 | 100 | 34 | 51 | 0 | 27 | 32.0% |
| Madu e Mari Cipriani | 6 | 4 | 85 | 76 | 37 | 77 | 0 | 30 | 31.9% |
| Aninha e Livia | 4 | 2 | 67 | 64 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 8 | 25.9% |
| Nuala e Emili | 4 | 2 | 56 | 58 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25.0% |
| Josy e Vanessa | 4 | 2 | 56 | 62 | 27 | 74 | 0 | 25 | 23.3% |
| Ju Picciani e Nila | 4 | 2 | 59 | 69 | 39 | 71 | 0 | 32 | 33.0% |
| Tais e Lorenna | 3 | 1 | 51 | 51 | 21 | 32 | 0 | 12 | 36.8% |
| Lana e Monique | 3 | 1 | 43 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Lane e Sabrina | 3 | 1 | 44 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Keyla e Yosy | 3 | 1 | 45 | 52 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 18.5% |
| Pamela e Mari Ciasca | 2 | 0 | 34 | 38 | 8 | 18 | 0 | 7 | 21.6% |
| Bia Rio e Lunna | 2 | 0 | 22 | 36 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 14.3% |
| Mari Onda e Lissa | 2 | 0 | 18 | 36 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 18.8% |
| Carol e Malu | 2 | 0 | 15 | 36 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 18.2% |
P = matches played, W = wins. Conversion is the ratio of attacks that scored to attacks attempted.
The tournament in numbers
- 21 matches analyzed
- 1,827 actions recorded
- 952 attack points
- 596 defenses
- 258 unforced errors
- Head attack: 322 points from 926 attempts (35%)
- Foot attack: 9 points from 16 attempts (56%)
The tournament wrapped up
Natalia e Ray stay atop the ranking, and Amanda e Rafinha are right behind, closing the gap to 600 points. Check the full ranking at: /en/ligas/lbf/duplas
The broadcast of this tournament has already reached 561,170 views on YouTube, across 3 videos.
Every match of TAFC is available with full point-by-point statistics on the tournament page.
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