Headlining Sunday’s field of past and present Beach Volleyball world champions will be the Brazilian pair of Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa as the third-seeded Brazilians will play a 1 p.m. (local time) match on the Red Bull Beach Arena center court against 27th-seeded Julie Gordon and Camille Saxton of Canada.
Agatha is a reigning “senior” world champion as she teamed with Barbara Seixas to capture the top spot on the 2015 podium at The Hague. Duda, who turns 19 Tuesday, has captured three under-19 and two under-21 world championship titles with fourth different partners. She also topped the podium at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic gold medal winner with Ana Patricia Silva.
The US$1-million FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships presented by A1 will feature 28 pool play matches on three courts Sunday at the state-of-the art venue at Donauinsel with the focal point of the action and entertainment being held with a picturesque view of the Danube River and the lively atmosphere of the Beach Village.
A total of 216-matches will be played over a 10-day period at the world championships where the winning men’s and women’s teams will each split the $60,000 first-place prizes. The women’s medal matches will be played August 5 and the men’s August 6. With 96 teams from 40 countries in the competition, pool play highlights the first six days of play with the featured court being the 10,000-seat Red Bull Beach Arena.