Lausanne, Switzerland, Jul7, 2017 – Espinho beach is ready and waiting for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, with Praia da Baia set to host the Espinho 2-Star men-only event from Friday, July 28 to Sunday, July 30.
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It will be the 14th time that Espinho, a city 30-minutes south of Porto, has hosted an FIVB tournament.
Teams from Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Sweden and the United States will make up the 24-team main draw, which will be played on a single-elimination format.
Poland’s Maciej Rudol and Jakub Szalankiewicz will arrive in Espinho having reached the quarterfinals at the Olsztyn 4-star event last week. They are a new team this season and finished third at the 3-Star event in Xiamen in China.
Norway is led by a strong team who knows what it takes to finish on a tournament podium. Anders Berntsen Mol and Mathias Berntsen won silver in this year’s CEV U22 European Championships and finished fourth in the 2016 FIVB U21 World Championships.
Lorenz Schumann and Julius Thole will carry Germany’s hopes. Earlier in the year Schumann won the Siofok satellite tournament in Hungary, alongside Alexander Walkenhorst.
USA’s Trevor Crabb and James Avery Drost have both built their experience this season alongside more experienced players. Crabb played with double Olympian Sean Rosenthal in Gstaad, while Drost finished fifth in Xiamen alongside Ryan Doherty.
Eight Portuguese teams will be in action, led by reigning national champions Roberto Reis and Fabricio Silva.