Meet the teams
Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira – Spain (9)
Team: 5th (2009), 5th (2011), 5th (2013), 17th (2015), 5th (2017)
Herrera: 17th (2003), 33rd (2005), 9th (2007), 5th (2009), 5th (2011), 5th (2013), 17th (2015), 5th (2017)
Gavira: 5th (2009), 5th (2011), 5th (2013), 17th (2015), 5th (2017)
Evandro Goncalves/Bruno Schmidt – Brazil (13)
Team: Debut
Evandro: 5th (2013), 3rd (2015), 1st (2017)
Bruno: 17th (2009), 9th (2011), 5th (2013), 1st (2015), 9h (2017)
Cole Durant/Damien Schumann – Australia (35)
Team: Debut
Durant: Debut
Schumann: 37th (2015), 9th (2017)
Tigrito Gomez/Charly Rangel – Venezuela (37)
Team: Debut
Tigrito: Debut
Charly: 37th (2017)
The lowdown
Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira have been one of the most solid teams to compete on the World Tour in the last decade, but the World Championships have been frustrating for them as they never gone beyond the quarter-finals. Evandro Goncalves and Bruno Schmidt are both world champions and are starting to reach the expectations set for the team after they won gold in Warsaw in the last event before Hamburg. Cole Durant and Damien Schumann are both World Tour regulars and will try to elude their opponents with their fast-paced offense. Tigrito Gomez and Charly Rangel are trying to take Venezuela back to its best beach volleyball days, but they are still one step or two away from it.
Game to watch
The duel between the Spanish and Brazilians will confront the steadiness of the Europeans and the flashy but still inconsistent game of the South Americans. To win the match, Herrera and Gavira need to force the Brazilians to make mistakes while for Bruno and Evandro the key is to get the Europeans out of system as frequently as possible. Wednesday, July 3, at 10am CET. Court 2.
Did you know?
Herrera and Gavira are the longest-lasting partnership to compete at the World Championships. The Spaniards have played together since 2009 and have shared the same side of the court in 130 tournaments already.
