TEAM CANADA PREVIEW 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships - Hamburg, Germany It’s hard to believe that with all of Canada’s international success on the beach, there has never been a medal at the World Championships – at the senior level. Could this be the year? Canada will be represented by five high quality teams in a field of 96 teams (48 men/48 women) at the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships which run from Friday, June 28 until Sunday, July 7 at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Hamburg, Germany. It’s the same venue that has successfully hosted the last two World Tour Finals. On the women’s side, there are two Canadian pairs with proven pedigree at the world level and either team – or both – could be in the mix for the medals. Canada has another women’s team that has been turning heads through the junior and collegiate ranks as well. At the 2017 World Championships in Vienna, the Canadian duo of Sarah Pavan (Kitchener, ON) and Melissa Humana-Paredes (Toronto, ON) made it to the bronze medal match, but landed 4th after a heart-breaking loss to Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes when the Brazilians took the 3rd set by an 18-16 score. The Pavan/Melissa pairing has spent time at #1 in the World Tour rankings thanks to wins in Croatia, China and Switzerland and has made eight trips to a World Tour podium in just 25 tournaments together. Probably most impressive was the win at the Five-Star Gstaad Major where they went undefeated in six matches including victories over American, Brazilian and German teams - on the march to gold. The Pavan/Melissa duo also won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast going undefeated in six matches again. Pavan & Humana-Parades had one 17th place finish this season which pushed them down to the #9 seeds in Hamburg but it’s easy to see that they have the goods to make a push for the World Championship podium. Pavan says the path to success means, “we will have to be consistent with our side out and serving games, while taking advantage of defensive chances we get. There are a lot of very strong teams, so consistency, relentlessness, and passion will be key.” Pavan/Melissa will be the top team in Pool I with their first match scheduled for Saturday morning against the Colombian tandem of Diana Rios & Yuli Ayala. One could argue that the Canadian team of Heather Bansley (Waterdown, ON) and Brandie Wilkerson (Toronto, ON) has an equal, maybe even greater, chance of winning in Hamburg. In the 2018 season, the Bansley/Brandie partnership also spent time holding down the #1 ranking on the World Tour. The B’s made several trips to a World Tour podium including a win at the Four-Star event in Poland where they lost just one set along the way. Both players were recognized with FIVB awards after the 2018 season. Wilkerson was named best blocker while Bansley earned the tour’s best defensive player award for the third time in her career. Bansley/Brandie own a 25-5 record in the 2019 season and a winning rate of over 83 percent, which is second best on the World Tour. They arrived in Hamburg several days early and seem determined to make their mark at the biggest event of the year. The Bansley/Brandie duo is clearly at the top of the class of Pool C and will get started on Saturday afternoon against a much lower ranked team from Uruguay. In October of 2018, the top two Canadian teams put on a show at the Four-Star event in Las Vegas. Both Bansley/Brandie and Pavan/Melissa went undefeated all the way until the gold medal match when it took three sets to declare Bansley/Brandie the winners. In May of this year, the tables were turned with Pavan/Melissa beating their fellow Canadians in a three set match at a Four-Star in Itapema, Brazil. There really is not much to choose between these talented and feisty teams heading into World Championships in Hamburg. Opposing countries beware. Meanwhile, lurking in the shadows of the top two Canadian women’s teams are twin sisters from Tsawwassen, British Columbia. Megan & Nicole McNamara are the reigning World University champions and the two-time NCAA champions for the UCLA Bruins. They have only been on the World Tour for a short time, but have already shown proficiency with a top five finish at a Three-Star event in Tokyo. Earlier this season, the McNamara’s knocked off Germany’s Sandra Ittlinger/Chantal Laboureur at a Four-Star event in Brazil. Ittlinger/Laboureur are the #1 seeds in Hamburg and will be in Pool A with the McNamara’s. Although not blessed with great size, with both at 5’9, the athleticism of the former NCAA stars along with their communication and teamwork skills seem to be worth several inches. The McNamara's first match goes Saturday afternoon against the Italian duo Marta Menegatti & Viktoria Orsi Toth. Canada has qualified two men’s teams in the field at these World Championships. Sam Schachter (Richmond Hill, ON) and Sam Pedlow (Barrie, ON) have been partners since the end of the 2016 season. They won a NORCECA event together in 2016 and earned an impressive 5th place showing at the Gstaad Five-Star Major in 2017 and placed 9th at the the 2017 World Championships in Austria. Their biggest payday (US $30,000) came at the Long Beach Presidents Cup in 2017 where – in a stacked field – the Canadian partners got to the final against American stars Phil Dalhausser and Nicholas Lucena. Last fall the Sam’s earned a silver medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games with their only loss coming in the final to Australians Christopher McHugh and Damien Schumann in a three set battle. The top result for Pedlow/Schachter in the 2019 season was a 4th place finish at a Four-Star event in China where Pedlow was unable to play in the bronze medal match because of an ankle injury. Schachter stated via Instragram this week that, “the hard work is over… let the fun begin! Now it is time for @pedlowsamuel and I to show the world our stuff!” Pedlow/Schachter will be in Pool K in Hamburg and it would appear that Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs & Janis Smedins are the team to beat in the group. The Canadians start the tournament on Saturday afternoon against Chile’s Ignacio Zavala & Gaspar Lammel. The second Canadian men’s team is Ben Saxton (Calgary, AB) and Grant O’Gorman (Scarborough, ON). Saxton/O’Gorman teamed up near the end of 2017 and won their first event together in Sydney, Australia. Since then, the pair has had somewhat mixed results. In 2019, they had 9th place finishes at Four-Star events in Brazil and China. When asked to pinpoint which areas may need attention, O’Gorman said, “all parts can always be improved. I think our serving can take us to the next level.” O’Gorman who is competing in his first FIVB World Championships, says, “this year is all about getting our game right so we can peak next year. We are on the right path”. Saxton is the more experienced partner and his resume includes two 5th place finishes at World Championships (alongside Chaim Schalk) and his experience as well as the blocking skills of the six foot, seven inch (2.01m) Calgarian will be heavily relied upon for success. Saxton/O’Gorman’s Pool F is a tough one and includes 2013 World Champions Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen from the Netherlands and American legend Phil Dalhausser and his partner Nick Lucena. The Canadians have never beaten those two teams but are 2-0 in matches against the last team in the group from Argentina – Julian Azaad and Nicholas Capogrosso. Saxton/O’Gorman kick off their World Championships against Dalhausser/Lucena at 10am (Hamburg time) on Friday. Canadian women’s star Sarah Pavan is expecting a special atmosphere at the Red Bull Arena, “we have actually had the opportunity to play in Hamburg for the last two World Tour Finals events, and we have had incredible experiences here. The former Olympic and World Champions are from the city (Laura Ludwig & Kira Walkenhorst), so there is great interest and appreciation for beach volleyball. We are expecting a great turnout for this event, and it’s always so fun to play here." The last time a Canadian team won a World Tour event in Germany was in 1996 when John Child and Mark Heese grabbed the crown at a competition in Berlin. Could this be the year that the maple leaf flies again in Deutschland? Stay tuned. .