Ottawa, ON, Canada (AHN Sports) – Veteran campaigners Annie Martin and Marie- Andrée Lessard, who placed 13th at the recent FIVB World Tour in Poland, will be part of the six-member team bound for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships next month in Rome, Volleyball Canada announced Thursday.

The pair of Martin (Sherbrooke, Que.) and Lessard (Ville LaSalle, Que.) is one of two teams competing on the women’s side in the Rome event slated to begin on June 13 through June 19.

Heather Bansley and Elizabeth Maloney, both of Toronto, will comprise the other half of the Canadian women’s contingent. Bansley and Maloney brought home a gold medal and a bronze from the NORCECA (North and Central America and Caribbean) circuit held this spring.

Meanwhile, the tandem of Christian Redmann (Toronto) and Ben Saxton (Calgary) will represent Canada in men’s play.

The eighth edition of the international beach volleyball championship will feature 48 teams each for the men and the women.

The teams will be grouped into 12 pools of four with the top two teams from each group along with the eight third-place finishers advancing into the knockout phase.

The composition of the 12 pools will be announced at the end of this month.

The semifinals stage is scheduled on June 18 with the medal matches set for June 19.

The duo of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser of the U.S., which placed third at the 2009 event in Stavanger, Norway, will enter this year’s tilt as the men’s top seed.

Brazilians Juliana Felisberta and Larissa Franca, who were runners-up to April Ross and Jennifer Kessy of the USA in 2009, is the top seed in women’s play.

COBRA SPORTS