German duo Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude shocked last year's runners-up Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan to clinch gold ©FIVB

German duo Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude shocked last year's runners-up Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan to clinch gold in the women's event at the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) World Tour Poreč Major today.

The unfancied German pairing, seeded 19th for the competition in the Croatian town, comfortably overcame their Canadian rivals 21-19, 21-18 in 38 minutes to wrap up a surprise victory.

Laboureur and Sude had dispatched compatriots Karla Borger and Britta Buthe 21-19, 22-20 to seal their spot in the tournament's showpiece contest.

Bansley and Pavan, who were forced to settle for their second consecutive Poreč Major silver, progressed to the final by beating Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany 21-15, 21-17.

Borger and Buthe recovered from their loss to the eventual winners by securing bronze with a 21-19, 21-23, 15-11 triumph against German counterparts Ludwig and Walkenhorst.

"It is a dream come true,” said the 26-year old Laboureur. 

“We played our best today against two teams headed to the Olympics.  

"We have worked very hard the past several years to position ourselves as one of the best teams in the world. 

"All our hard work and training paid off today as we defeated two very good teams.  

"No one expects a qualifying team to win an event, and today we did.”

Last year's runners-up Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan were forced to settle for silver once again ©Twitter
Last year's runners-up Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan were forced to settle for silver once again ©Twitter

In the men's competition, Canada's Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk will be hoping to go one better than Bansley and Pavan as they reached the semi-finals with two wins today.

The Canadian team beat 14th-seeded Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros of Mexico 21-19, 21-16 before they recorded an excellent 25-23, 21-17 victory over American duo Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, the third seeds.

Saxton and Schalk will clash with Austria's Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst, who came from behind to claim wins over pairs from Spain and Brazil, in tomorrow's semi-finals.

They ended the campaign of Spaniards Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira with a 19-21, 21-19, 16-14 success and then ousted Brazilians Gustavo Carvalhaes and Saymon Barbosa 18-21, 21-14, 20-18.

The other men's last four encounter will be between Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins of Latvia and top-seeded Brazilian pair Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt.

The tournament concludes tomorrow.