There are the duos you'll want to be around when they play this week

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The Red Bull Beach Arena will be packed once again this week in Vienna

It's time, volleyball fans! The A1 Major Vienna presented by Swatch is set to start and as much as we know you'll follow every game at the Danube Island this week, we took the liberty to prepare a shortlist of five men's teams for you to track. Enjoy!

Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst (Austria)

The home heroes will certainly have an emotional week at the Danube Island as memories from their incredible silver medal campaign at last year’s World Championships will emerge from every corner of the venue. Probably no team in the world will be more motivated this week than the Silverboys and if they can play anywhere near they did last year, it could be another unforgettable week for the veterans in their home sand.

Doppler and Horst will have massive support from the home fans again

Evandro and Vitor Felipe (Brazil)

Talking of memories, it will be hard to beat Evandro’s, though, as the Brazilian became a world champion last year at the Danube Island. He returns to Vienna with a new partner in Vitor Felipe and the team, which is the top-seeded at the event, has had a promising start. They won the silver medal in Warsaw, finished fourth in Espinho and fifth in Ostrava. What chance gold here in Vienna?

Evandro and Vitor will be aiming for their first Beach Major Series medal together

Anders Mol and Christian Sørum (Norway)

The Norwegians are definitely the team you’ll want to watch closely when the Vienna Major starts. At just 21 and 22, the Beach Volley Vikings have made history in the last two tournaments they played at, becoming the youngest team to ever win both a Beach Major Series event, in Gstaad, and the European Championships. They’ve been undefeated for the last 13 matches and are the team to beat in the Austrian capital - a city they already know well...

Mol and Sørum arrive in Vienna in good heart following victories in Gstaad and the European Championships

Clemens Wickler and Julius Thole (Germany)

The last team to take the Vikings down was the one of the up-and-coming Germans, who knocked the Norwegians out of the four-star Espinho Open in the first week of July on their way to win the bronze medal - their first in the World Tour. After a tough start of season, Wickler and Thole, who’s a force at the net at 2.09m, are on the up and they are eager to prove themselves on the big stage in their first Beach Major Series main draw appearance as a team.

Wickler and Thole are the new faces of German beach volleyball (Photocredit: FIVB)

Konstantin Semenov and Illya Leshukov (Russia)

It will be the first Beach Major Series event for the 22-year-old Leshukov and the first for the two-time Olympian Semenov since 2016 as he was playing indoor volleyball during the 2017 season. The team was recently formed and seems to be picking up its best game as the Russians have won two medals in their last four World Tour events, a gold in the three-star tournament in Mersin and a bronze in the four-star Ostrava Open, and finished fourth in last week’s European Championships.

Semenov and Leshukov will have their first appearance in the Beach Major Series as a team

You can watch all the games of the Vienna Major live on BeachStream. Click here to register.