Walkenhorst/Ludwig Highlight World Tour Finals Wild Card Selections

2017 SWATCH BEACH VOLLEYBALL FIVB WORLD TOUR FINALS

• August 23-27
• Hamburg, Germany
• Schedule/Results
• Event Page

The field for the FIVB World Tour finals has been set, with the four wild card selections for each gender having been determined. The Finals will be held in Hamburg, Germany from August 23-27 with the teams competing for a part of the $800,000 prize. The top team for each gender will earn $100,000 to share.

The tournament features a 14 team per gender field, with the first eight teams selected for the World Tour Finals were selected based on their World Rankings. Each gender is only guaranteed two automatic bids per country, which hurt Brazil’s Fernanda Alves and Barbara Seixas, who were the third Brazilian pair in the top-eight of the rankings.

Headlining the women’s side of the wild card choices are recent World Champions, Kira Walkenhorst and Laura Ludwig of Germany. The pair took down April Ross and Lauren Fendrick (who also received a wild card bid) at the Vienna Beach World Championships to win the gold medal. The Germans have had a great run on the sand in the past two seasons, winning the 2016 Olympic gold medal and coming back from a Ludwig injury to win Worlds. Ross/Fendrick have made a tremendous run this year, after only being partners for a few months. Other women’s selections came in Canada’s Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson and Switzerland’s Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli.

On the men’s side of the competition, Germany received two wild card bids, being the host country of the event. Markus Bockermann and Lorenz Schumann, who is replacing Lars Fluggen who is injured, and Armin Dollinger and Jonathan Erdmann were to host countries selections. Canada received a team in the Finals with Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk earning the bid. For Team USA, Theo Brunner and Casey Patterson will join the field in contention for the top prize.

Wild Card – Women

• Kira Walkenhorst/Laura Ludwig (GER)
• April Ross/Lauren Fendrick (USA)
• Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson (CAN)
• Nina Betschart/Tanja Huberli (SUI)

Wild Card – Men

• Markus Bockermann/Lorenz Schumann (GER)
• Armin Dollinger/Jonathan Erdmann (GER)
• Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk (CAN)
• Theo Brunner/Casey Patterson (USA)

Top 8 Teams

Men’s Teams

• Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (USA)
• Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola (BRA)
• Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (POL)
• Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin (RUS)
• Alvaro Filho/Saymon Santos (BRA)
• Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai (ITA)
• Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst (AUT)
• Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera (ESP)

Women’s Teams

• Larissa Franca/Talita Antunes (BRA)
• Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude (GER)
• Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes (CAN)
• Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Santos Lisboa (BRA)
• Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova (CZE)
• Joana Heidrich/Anouk Verge-Depre (SUI)
• Kristyna Kolocova/Michala Kvapilova (CZE)
• Brooke Sweat/Summer Ross (USA)