The World Champion women!

Teams from Brazil, the United States and Canada dominate the list if women’s teams who have qualified for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships presented by comdirect and ALDI Nord.

The draw for the biggest event of the year will take place on June 4 and the first entry list contains a host of top names out to etch their names into beach volleyball history when the action gets under way in Hamburg on June 28.

Leading the list of qualifiers from the FIVB top-23, however, are Czech stars Marketa Sluková and Barbora Hermannová, who will be playing in their second championships together as a team.

Last season’s Vienna Major winners and World Tour Finals runners-up from the Czech Republic face a field packed with quality as the Rothenbaum Stadium welcomes the beach elite from all corners of the globe.

Stiff competition

Of the top 15 teams who qualified through their world ranking, four are Brazilian, four hail from the United States and two come from Canada.

Brazil and the US both have strength in all four teams, with the South Americans able to call on Agatha/Duda, Barbara/Fernanda, Maria Antonelli/Carol Salgado and in-form rising stars Ana Patricia/Rebecca, who make their World Championship debuts.

The US are led by 2009 champion and 2017 runner-up April Ross and teammate Alix Klineman, who makes her World Championship debut. The American dream is also pinned on Larsen/Stockman and the up-and-coming talents of Hughes/Summer and Sponcil/Claes.

World ranking stars Brandie Wilkerson/Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes will be aiming to give Canada their first ever World Championship medal at the beach. The two teams are joined by rising stars from US college beach volleyball, 21-year-old twins Nicole and Megan McNamara, the 2018 World University champions.

Germans aim for glory

Host nation Germany currently hold the title following Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst’s 2017 triumph in Vienna. While Laura, back from a baby break, and new partner did not make the first cut, it is hugely likely reigning Olympic champ Ludwig will be handed a wildcard.

Following the break-up of Ludwig/Walkenhorst, a host of new teams have formed – and three of those have already guaranteed themselves a spot in Hamburg thanks to their ranking points, giving the hosts a great chance to keeping the title on home sand.

The four teams already assured of a spot are Ittlinger/Laboureur, Borger/Sude, Bieneck/Schneider and Behrens/Tillmann, who will all have the support the of the Rothenbaum crowd.

Around the World

From Australia (Clancy/Artacho and Palmer/Laird) to Argentina (Gallay/Pereya), teams from all corners of the globe will descend on Hamburg.

Among teams making their World Championships debuts will be seven of the eight players who qualified from the African pathway, including 2016 Olympian Doaa Elgohbashy and teammate Randa Radwan from Egypt.

Popular Japanese pairing Miki Ishii and Megumi Murakami, who finished fifth in Gstaad last season, will also make their World Champs debut having qualified through the Asian confederation.

Rising stars from Latvia, 21-year-old Tina Graudina – last season’s Rookie of the Year – and teammate Anastasija Kravcenoka, 22 are also among the European qualifiers, along with Marleen van Iersel who will make her sixth World Championship appearance alongside Joy Stubbe.

Wildcards will be announced in due course, with the final confirmed entry list due for publication on May 27 before the Drawing of Lots on June 4.

Full list of qualifiers:

Women - FIVB World Tour Entry List (listed in alphabetical order of nation)

1.            Mariafe Artacho/Taliqua Clancy, Australia

2.            Rebecca Cavalcanti/Ana Patricia Silva, Brazil

3.            Maria Antonelli/Carolina Salgado, Brazil

4.            Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas, Brazil

5.            Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa, Brazil

6.            Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson, Canada

7.            Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan, Canada

8.            Fan Wang/Xinyi Xia, China

9.            Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic

10.          Taru Lahti/Anniina Parkkinen, Finland

11.          Karla Borger/Julia Sude, Germany

12.          Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider, Germany

13.          Sandra Ittlinger/Chantel Laboureur, Germany

14.          Kim Behrens/Cinja Tillmann, Germany

15.          Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth, Italy

16.          Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink, Netherlands

17.          Katarzyna Kociolek/Kinga Wojtasik, Poland

18.          Svetlana Kholomina/Nadezda Makroguzova, Russia

19.          Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez, Spain

20.          Nina Betschart/Tanja Huberli, Switzerland

21.          Joana Heidrich/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland

22.          Alix Klineman/April Ross, United States

23.          Sara Hughes/Summer Ross, United States

24.          Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil, United States

25.          Kelley Larsen/Emily Stockman, United States

AVC Qualification Pathway

26.          Nicole Laird/Becchara Palmer, Australia

27.          Xinxin Wang/Chen Xue, China

28.          Meimei Lin/Jingjing Zeng, China

29.          Miki Ishii/Megumi Murakami, Japan

CAVB Qualification Pathway

30.          Doaa Elghobashy/Randa Radwan, Egypt

31.          Maita Cousin/Marie Letendrie, Mauritius

32.          Charlotte Nzayisenga/Judith Hakizimana, Rwanda

33.          Tochukwu Nnoruga/Francisca Ikhiede, Nigeria

CEV Qualification Pathway

34.          Tina Graudina/Anastasija Kravcenoka, Latvia

35.          Joy Stubbe/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands

36.          Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova, Russia

37.          Natalia Dubovcova/Andrea Strbova, Slovakia

CSV Qualification Pathway

38.          Ana Gallay/Fernanda Pereyra, Argentina

39.          Diana Rios/Yuli Ayala, Colombia

40.          Michelle Valiente/Pati Caballero, Paraguay

41.          Fortunati Lia/Maria Rotti, Uruguay

NORCECA Qualification Pathway

42.          Megan McNamara/Nicole McNamara, Canada

43.          Leila Martinez Ortega/Mailen Feliz Tamayo, Cuba

44.          Zaira Orellana/Martha Revuelta, Mexico

45.          Valeria Mendoza/Lolette Rodriquez, Nicaragua

Wildcards

49.          Laura Ludwig/Maggie Kozuch, Germany

50.          Leonie Körtzinger/Sarah Schneider, Germany

51.          Kerri Walsh Jennings/Brooke Sweat, United States