BEACH VOLLEYBALL Preview: Warsaw four-star is the last tune-up for the World Championships

Three in a row for: Norway's Christian Sorum and Anders Mol

The 2019 FIVB World Championships in Hamburg (GER) are coming at the end of the month, and the last significant tournament remaining is the Warsaw Open in Poland this weekend.

The first question to be considered is whether anyone can beat Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, winners of three four-star tournaments in a row over the last month. The top seeds:

Men:
1. Anders Mol/Christian Sorum (NOR) ~ Itapema ~ Jinjiang ~ Ostrava Open winners
2. Grzegorz Fijalek/Michal Bryl (POL) ~ Itapema Open runners-up; Ostrava third
3. Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Oleg Stoyanovskiy (RUS) ~ Xiamen Open winners
4. Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira (ESP) ~ Xiamen Open runners-up; Doha third
5. Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan (QAT)

Also seeded in the top 10 are Americans Nick Lucena and Phil Dalhausser, in seventh.

Women:
1. Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson (CAN) ~ Las Vegas & Chetumai Open winners
2. Alix Klineman/April Ross (USA) ~ Yangzhou Open winners
3. Ana Patricia Ramos/Rebecca Cavalcanti (BRA) ~ The Hague & Xiamen Open winners
4. Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa (BRA) ~ Ostrava Open winners
5. Sara Hughes/Summer Ross (USA) ~ Yangzhou Open third

Bansley and Wilkerson won at Warsaw last year, with Agatha and Duda third. But American and Brazilian pairs have split the victories in the last four four-star events, but no one pair has emerged as dominant.

Look for results here.