Lausanne, Switzerland, June 6, 2019 – Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst are the leading pair and will be seeking a second consecutive gold at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Baden 1-Star which runs from June 6-10.
It is the second year that the Austrian town has hosted a World Tour event. The action will take place in the Baden Stadium, which has increased its capacity from 1,200 to 1,800, with €7,500 on offer for the winners.
“Baden is special for us as nowhere else we are as close to our fans as here,” the 39-year-old Doppler said. “We have celebrated huge successes in Baden; in 2018 we won our first World Tour gold medal here.”
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Doppler and Horst have shown in the past that they revel in playing in front of their home fans, most notably at the Vienna 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships when they won silver.
The Baden 1-Star is likely to be one of their final tournaments before they chase another World Championships medal at the Hamburg 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships which take place from June 28 to July 7.
Their compatriots Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller are the only other team in the main draw who will be competing in Hamburg, and Austrian pair Katharina Schützenhöfer and Lena Plesiutschnig lead the way in the women’s draw.
They failed to qualify for Hamburg so will have extra motivation to improve on the silver they won in 2018 having lost to Germany’s Teresa Mersmann and Cinja Tillmann in the final.
“The atmosphere at Baden’s centre court is unique on the World Tour,” Plesiutschnig said. “The fans are really close, and you can feel their support throughout the entire match.”
