Reigning World and Olympic champions Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst will be looking to defend their title at the FIVB Beach World Tour Finals ©Swatch Major Series

Reigning World and Olympic champions Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst will be looking to defend their title at the International Volleyball Federation Beach World Tour Finals, which are scheduled to begin at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum Stadium tomorrow.

The home favourites have been drawn in Pool B alongside Brazil's Talita Antunes and Larissa França and the United States’ Summer Ross and Brooke Sweat.

They are one of 12 teams competing in the women’s competition with Pool A made up of compatriots Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude, Czech Republic’s Kristyna Kolocova and Michala Kvapilová and Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré.

Pool C features two Canadian teams with Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan and Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson set to face each other.

They are joined in the section by Czech Republic’s Barbora Hermannová and Marketa Slukova.  

Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda Santos Lisboa are in Pool D with the US’s Lauren Fendrick and April Ross and Switzerland’s Tanja Hüberli and Nina Betschart.


The United States' Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena are the top seeds in the men's event ©Swatch Major Series
The United States' Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena are the top seeds in the men's event ©Swatch Major Series

With two-time World Tour Finals champions Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil failing to qualify, the men’s title is up for grabs.

The top seeds are the US’s Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, who claimed the gold medal at last year’s Hamburg Major event and were the runners-up at the 2015 World Tour Finals.

Their quest for top honours begins in Pool A with matches against World Championship runners-up Clemens Doppler and Alex Horst of Austria and experienced Spanish duo Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera.

Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves and Andre Loyola, victorious at the World Championships in Austria’s capital Vienna earlier this month, have been drawn in Pool B alongside Russia’s Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Nikita Liamin and American wildcards Theo Brunner and Casey Patterson.

Pool C is made up of Brazil’s Alvaro Filho and Saymon Barbosa, Poland’s Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak and Germany’s Armin Dollinger and Jonathan Erdmann.

Making up Pool D is Germany’s Markus Böckermann and Lorenz Schümann, Italy’s Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai and Canada’s Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk.