Hamburg to host historic second straight Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals in August 2018.
- Beach elite will compete between August 14-19, 2018
- Worldâs best aim for share of 800,000 US Dollars in prize money
- German team Ludwig/Walkenhorst eyeing third straight titleÂ
Hamburg will once again move to the samba beat of beach volleyball in 2018 when it has the honor of hosting the Beach Volleyball FIVBÂ World Tour Finals for a second successive season.Â
No other nation has held the World Tour Finals more than once, but the northern German city will welcome capacity crowds and the worldâs elite beach volleyball players between August 14-19, in what will be the most prestigious tournament of the 2018 beach volleyball season.Â
Last season 66,000 fans packed the iconic Rothenbaum stadium for five days of breathtaking action. The 100,000 US Dollar top prize and the gold medals went to the USAâs Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena and home heroes Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst, the German superstars and reigning World and Olympic champions.Â
Legendary American pair Lucena/Dalhausser stunned newly crowned World Champions AndrĂŠ Loyola Stein and Evandro Gonçalves Oliveira Junior of Brazil to lift the menâs title, but the story of the week undoubtedly belonged to Laura and Kira.Â
Just two weeks after claiming their first world title in Vienna, Hamburgâs finest â who had missed a large chunk of the 2017 season through injury â edged a dramatic womenâs final, beating Brazilian challengers Agatha Bednarczuk and teenage sensation Eduarda âDudaâ Santos Lisboa in the womenâs final to claim gold.Â
âWeâre thrilled to hear that the World Tour Finals are coming to Hamburg again,â said a delighted Laura Ludwig.Â
The Olympic champ added: âBeach volleyball is hugely popular throughout Germany and especially in Hamburg. Itâs a place we call home, we love it here and the support we received in the past two tournaments was unbelievable. I am sure the fans will come out in their numbers again to support us. We canât wait.âÂ
The 2018 World Tour Finals will be the fourth edition of beach volleyballâs end-of-season showpiece, which has previously been held in Fort Lauderdale in 2015 and Toronto in 2016 prior to the 2017 event in Hamburg.Â
The World Tour Finals in Hamburg will bring the curtain down on the 2018 beach volleyball season, during which the worldâs best beach volleyball athletes compete at three five-star Beach Major Series tournaments, in Fort Lauderdale, Gstaad and Vienna.Â
2018 Beach Major Series season:Â
Fort Lauderdale Major (USA)Â February 27-March 4Â
Gstaad Major (Switzerland)Â July 10-15Â
Vienna Major (Austria)Â July 31-August 5Â
Hamburg Finals (Germany)Â August 14-19Â