2017 FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – VIENNA
- July 28 to August 6
- Vienna Centre Court, Vienna, Austria
- Co-ed
- Championships
- Event Site
With the 2017 World Beach Championships coming up later this month in Vienna, Austria, it is time to look at the pools and how the teams compare to each other.
The championships will be held from July 28th to August 6th, with $1 million in prize money to be won. The women’s championship match will be held on August 5th while the men’s will be on August 6th.
The tournament is set up with round-robin play with pools of four teams. The top two teams from each of the 12 pools will automatically move on to the round of 32, as will the top four 3rd-place teams from pool play. These teams will be selected based on match points, set-point ratios and/or rally-point ratios. The rest of the 3rd place teams will head to a “Lucky Loser” round where the remaining eight teams will play a single head-to-head match to finish the round of 32 participants.
The top six pools in the competition feature “easier” matchups for the top-seeded team in the pool, while in the bottom six pools the competition becomes more even offering up the chance for upsets and tough matches.
Pool A (WCH seed, Team, Country)
1, Álvaro Filho/Saymon, BRA
24, Gonzalez/Nivaldo, CUB
25, Kunert/Dressler, AUT
48, Williams/Phillip, TTO
Alvaro Filho and Saymon Santos top the rankings for Vienna and are ranked #2 in the World Rankings as of July 17. The pair took first place at the Fort Lauderdale Major to start off the year, fifth in Rio, ninth in both Moscow and The Hague then third at the Gstaad Major. They are a very consistent team that will be a trouble for most teams that they face throughout the competition.
Diaz Nivaldo and Sergio Gonzalez of Cuba earn the 24th ranking for Vienna and are ranked #17 in the world. The pair opened up their World Tour play with a first place finish at the Langkawi event followed by a fifth place finish in Xiamen. The pair showed their strength at the Gstaad event, finishing in ninth place. Though ranked low and not finishing the highest in World Tour events, the pair will be a dark horse to watch out for.
Pool B
2, Smedins/Samoilovs, LAT
23, Jefferson/Cherif, QAT
26, Böckermann/Flüggen, GER
47, Charly/Golindano, VEN
Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins take the #2 seed in the tournament and are ranked #6 in the world. The pair has been consistently ranked high throughout the year, even sitting at #1, but they have not been able to secure a World Tour win this season. They will be a strong force in Vienna but their lack of being able to finish could pose a problem.
Jefferson Santos Pereira and Cherif Younousse of Qatar come in at the #23 seed and #26 in the world. They have inconsistent finishes throughout the year, therefore could struggle against stronger teams in the tournament.
Pool C
3, Dalhausser/Lucena, USA
22, Doherty/Hyden, USA
27, Prudel/Kujawiak, POL
46, Leonardo/Garcia L., GUA
Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena of the United States come in at #3 in the tournament and the #1 ranking in the world. The pair has two first place finishes in the World Tour this season – Moscow and most recently in Gstaad. They are a consistent force to watch out for and when they are on they are on. They are highly favored to finish in the top-five of the tournament.
Also from the USA are John Hyden and Ryan Doherty who are ranked #22 in the competition and #27 in the world. The pair has finished in the top five in three of the four events they have entered this year.
Pool D
4, Evandro/Andre, BRA
21, Virgen/Ontiveros, MEX
28, Quesada/Piña, CUB
45, Varenhorst/Van Garderen, NED
Andre Loyola Stein and Evandro Goncalves enter in as the #4 seed in the tournament and #11 in the world. The pair has participated in a number of competitions this season, starting with a #2 finish at the Fort Lauderdale Major.
Pool E
5, Alison/Bruno Schmidt, BRA
20, Grimalt E./Grimalt M., CHI
29, Plavins/Regza, LAT
44, Nguvo/Tovela, MOZ
Alison Cerutti/Bruno Schmidt of Brazil enter in as the #5 seed in the tournament and #8 in the world. The pair won the 2016 Olympic Games, setting their sites high for this season. The pair won in their home country at the Rio event earlier this season followed by a fifth place finish in Moscow and third in Porec. They will be a strong force in the competition but have not been able to finish many tournaments this season.
Pool F
6, Krasilnikov/Liamin, RUS
19, Koekelkoren/van Walle, BEL
30, Tocs/Finsters, LAT
43, Abicha/Elgraoui, MAR
Nikita Liamin and Viacheslav Krasilnikov enter Vienna as the #6 seed and are #5 in the world. This season the team has won two events on the World Tour, including Kish Islands to start it off then The Hague. Recently, the pair finished fifth in Gstaad and will have some momentum rolling off the high finish going into the competition.
Pool G
7, Losiak/Kantor, POL
18, Gibb/Crabb Ta., USA
31, Capogrosso/Azaad, ARG
42, Goyo/Roger, PAR
Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak will start the competition as the #7 seed and the #3 seed in the world. The duo has finished high in a number of World Tour events this season, with this highest finish being second at the Kish Islands and Gstaad.
Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb come to Vienna as the #18 seed and are ranked #21 in the world. The pair has not been able to finish a tournament in the top position this season but has consistently finished in the top-five.
Pool H
8, Pedro Solberg/Guto, BRA
17, Brunner/Patterson, USA
32, Seidl Rob./Winter, AUT
41, Naidoo/Williams, RSA
Pedro Solberg and Gustavo ‘Guto’ Carvalhaes take the #8 seed in the tournament and are ranked #10 in the world. This season, the duo took first at the Porec Major, being just the second team in World Tour history to win a major starting in the qualification round and not dropping a match. They will be a tough fight for most teams that run across them in the tournament.
Theo Brunner and Casey Patterson of the USA begin Vienna as the #17 seed and are ranked #22 in the world. The pair has been a consistent force on the World Tour this season, finishing high in a number of events but have not ended a competition with a win this season.
Pool I
9, Herrera/Gavira, ESP
16, Pedlow/Schachter, CAN
33, Candra/Ashfiya, INA
40, To be determined, AUT
Entering in as the #9 seed is Spain’s Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira, who are also ranked #9 in the world. The pair has been fairly consistent on the season, with their highest finish being second in The Hague.
Sam Schachter and Sam Pedlow of Canada enter as the #16 seed and #13 in the world. The pair has finished in the top-10 of every World Tour event they have entered in this season. They will be a tough match for every opponent they face at the World Championships.
Pool J
10, Brouwer/Meeuwsen, NED
15, Fijalek/Bryl, POL
34, Ranghieri/Carambula, ITA
39, Vieyto/Cairus, URU
Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of The Netherlands enter in as the #10 seed and are #12 in the world. The pair started off their World Tour play this season with a win at Xiamen and since then have been consistent top-10 finishers at all other World Tour events.
Pool K
11, Nicolai/Lupo, ITA
14, Stoyanovskiy/Yarzutkin, RUS
35, McHugh/Schumann, AUS
38, Lombi/Kamara, SLE
Italian’s Paolo Nicolai and Danielle Lupo enter in as the #11 seed for the World Championships and are ranked #4 in the world. The duo has been a strong force on the tour, finishing in the top-five of all but one World Tour event this season.
Pool L
12, Doppler/Horst, AUT
13, Saxton/Schalk, CAN
36, Raoufi R./Salemi B., IRI
37, Vandenburg/Nusbaum, CAN
Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst of Austria are the #12 seed in the tournament and are ranked #15 in the world. The pair has not been able to win a World Tour event this season, but have finished in the top-five on two separate occasions, making them a team to watch out for at the World Championships.
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