Fuzhou, China, April 22, 2013 – European champion in 2007, Clemens Doppler and partner Alexander Horst of Austria are the top seeds for the Men’s Qualification Tournament of the Fuzhou Open in China, which starts on Tuesday.A total of 28 teams were seeded following Monday’s technical meeting for the Qualification Tournament with Doppler, who has been playing since 1996 and finished second at the Stare Jablonki Grand Slam last year after teaming up with Alexander Horst at the start of last year, topping the draw.The top four seeds received a bye in the first of two qualifying rounds.The seeds are based on the individual players' points tally, with 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Latvia’s Martins Plavins seeded second with new partner Janis Peda, Brazil’s Hevaldo Sabino Moreira and Thiago Santos Barbosa third, and Russia’s Serguei Prokopiev and Yury Bogatov fourth.The top eight teams from the Qualification Tournament will join the 24 Main Draw teams starting on Wednesday.The Fuzhou Open kicks off the FIVB Beach Volleyball season of 2013, held from April 23-28. USA’s Phil Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal are expected to be top seeds for the Main Draw after injury forced out world champions and Olympic silver medallists Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego.The Men’s Main Draw technical meeting will take place on Tuesday evening (local time).Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province lies on the southeast coast of mainland China and hosts an FIVB Open for the first time. The city held the AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup in 2012 where Cristopher McHugh and Isaac Kapa were part of the silver medal winning Australian team.The Fuzhou Open is the first of eight Open events during a bumper ninth-month season, which also includes the FIVB World Tour – 10 Grand Slams and the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Stare Jablonki, Poland.The Shanghai Grand Slam is the next tournament on the calendar running from April 30 to May 5.