Hometown favourites Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst (pictured) defeated Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas in the women’s final at the FIVB Major Series event in Hamburg ©FIVB

Hometown favourites Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst captured their third tournament championship in their last four outings after defeating Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas in the women’s final at the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Major Series event in Hamburg.

The German number one seeds showed they are likely to be a force to be reckoned with at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with a 21-19, 19-21, 15-12 victory having earlier beaten the United States’ April Ross and Kerri Walsh-Jennings 21-16, 19-21, 16-14 in the semi-finals.

Success comes on the back of them claiming top honours at last week’s European Championships in Swiss city Biel-Bienne, which followed a ninth-place finish at the Moscow Grand Slam.

They started their current run by winning last month’s Antalya Open in Turkey.

"We wanted to start in Antalya to get our rhythm and play more competitively," said Walkenhorst, who was selected as the player of the tournament in Hamburg.

"Moscow was not that good but we’re getting better in our game and it makes it a lot of fun.

"Now we are playing beach volleyball and I think we can go two steps up."

Bednarczuk and Seixas started their day by registering a 19-21, 21-18, 15-11 semi-final victory over fellow Brazilians Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca, who recovered to overcome Ross and Walsh-Jennings 21-15, 21-17 in the bronze medal match.

The Netherlands' Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen celebrate their quarter-final win
The Netherlands' Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen celebrate their quarter-final win ©FIVB

In the men’s draw, 12th seeds Konstantin Semenov and Viacheslav Krasilnikov of Russia were awarded a free pass to the last fourwith Germany’s Markus Bockermann and Lars Fluggen withdrawing from the competition due to a right-knee injury for the former.

Semenov and Krasilnikov’s semi-final opponents tomorrow morning will be Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen after the fourth-seeded Dutchmen posted an 18-21, 23-21, 15-13 win over Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira of Spain.

The other semi-final will feature top seeds and reigning FIVB world champions Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil against third-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena of the US. 

Cerutti and Oscar Schmidt defeated Mexico’s Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros 21-23, 21-14, 15-8 in the last eight, while Dalhausser and Lucena beat Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson 22-20, 21-18 in an all-American clash.