Hosts Switzerland and beach volleyball powerhouses Brazil and the United States account for nine of the 12 teams guaranteed in the women’s main draw of next week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Gstaad.

The 23^rd international women’s event held in the Swiss Alps will be held from Wednesday to Sunday and has three teams from each of Switzerland, Brazil and the United States directly in the main draw, as well as duos from Australia, the Netherlands and Canada.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite16 live on VBTV.

Hosts Switzerland will put their faith on fourth-seeded Nina Brunner/Tanja Hüberli, tenth-seeded Joana Mäder/Anouk Vergé-Dépré and 11^th-seeded Zoé Vergé-Dépré/Esmée Böbner to represent the host country in front of their passionate home fans.

The three duos will try to take the Swiss flag to the podium in their home tournament for the first time since 2012, when Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr took bronze in Gstaad. Brunner/Hüberli and Mäder/Vergé-Dépré have both made it to the semifinals in the Swiss event, but had to settle for fourth in 2019 and 2017, respectively.

Winning medals in Gstaad has not been an issue for Brazil as the South American nation was represented in six of the last seven gold medal matches held in the Swiss Alps, winning ten medals in the period.

The players that form the three duos guaranteed in the main draw – top-seeded and defending champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa/Ana Patrícia Ramos, ninth-seeded Ágatha Bednarczuk/Rebecca Cavalcanti and 12^th-seeded Carol Salgado/Bárbara Seixas – combine for 12 medals won in the picturesque Swiss city.

Gli Stati Uniti sono saliti per l'ultima volta sul podio di Gstaad nel 2019, con la vittoria delle campionesse olimpiche April Ross e Alix Klineman, e saranno rappresentati dalle terze classificate Kelly Cheng/Sara Hughes, dalle quinte classificate Kristen Nuss/Taryn Kloth e dalle ottave classificate Terese Cannon/Sarah Sponcil.

Completano la lista delle 12 squadre garantite nel main draw di Gstaad le australiane Taliqua Clancy e Mariafe Artacho, seconde classificate, le olandesi Raisa Schoon e Katja Stam, seste classificate, e le canadesi Melissa Humana-Paredes e Brandie Wilkerson, settime classificate.

2023 Gstaad Elite16 – Women’s Entry List

Svizzera, Brasile e Stati Uniti hanno la possibilità di avere una squadra in più nel sorteggio principale: Menia Bentele/Anna Lutz, Tainá Bigi/Victoria Lopes e Julia Scoles/Betsi Flint saranno tutte in azione nelle qualificazioni di mercoledì e si contenderanno uno degli ultimi quattro posti nella fase principale del torneo.

Ben 28 squadre maschili provenienti da 16 paesi diversi saranno in azione nel Gstaad Elite16. L'evento mette in palio un montepremi di 150.000 dollari (per sesso) e punti preziosi per la qualificazione alle Olimpiadi di Parigi 2024.

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