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.

The United States have last been on the podium in Gstaad in 2019, with the victory of Olympic champion April Ross and Alix Klineman, and will be represented by third-seeded Kelly Cheng/Sara Hughes, fifth-seeded Kristen Nuss/Taryn Kloth and eighth-seeded Terese Cannon/Sarah Sponcil.

Completing the list of 12 teams guaranteed in the Gstaad main draw are second-seeded Australians Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho, sixth-seeded Dutch Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam and seventh-seeded Canadians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson.

2023 Gstaad Elite16 – Women’s Entry List

Switzerland, Brazil and the USA all have the possibility of having an extra team in the main draw as Menia Bentele/Anna Lutz, Tainá Bigi/Victoria Lopes and Julia Scoles/Betsi Flint will all be in action on Wednesday’s qualifier, competing for one of the last four spots in the main phase of the tournament.

As many as 28 men’s teams from 16 different countries will be in action in the Gstaad Elite16. The event offers US$ 150,000 in prize money (per gender) and precious points towards Paris 2024 Olympic qualification.

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