Knokke-Heist, Belgium, August 14, 2019 – Emi van Driel and Raïsa Schoon will try to maintain their strong run of form in 2019 when they compete at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Knokke-Heist 1-Star tournament.
Last week the Dutch pair won bronze at the Budapest 1-Star, their third World Tour medals of the year following gold at the Gothenburg and Alba Adriatica 1-Star tournaments.
The seaside resort close to the Dutch border is hosting a World Tour tournament for the first time and it is taking place at the Evenementenstrand event beach from August 15-18. The winning teams in Knokke-Heist will collect the €1,000 first-place prizes and claim 200 Tokyo 2020 Olympic points.
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Second seeds Francesca Kirwan and Olivia MacDonald of New Zealand will be aiming to improve on their fourth-place finish in Budapest, while third seeds Tadva Yoken and Sofia Wahlén of Sweden are seeking their first World Tour medals of 2019.
In the men’s draw New Zealand’s Thomas Hartles and Alani Nicklin are ranked first. They are in their second year together and yet to win a World Tour medal.
The Netherlands' Mees Blom and Yorick de Groot are seeded second, and Yusuke Ishijima and Katsuhiro Shiratori third.
Belgium’s highest ranked teams are Sarah Cools and Lisa Van Den Vonder who are seeded ninth in the women’s draw, and Lander Vandecaveye and Louis Vandecaveye, who are seeded in the same position in the men’s competition.
