Our guide to who is partnering who in Austria next season…

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Robin Seidl (left) will now partner Christoph Dressler, while Tobi Winter (right) has joined forces with Julian Hörl

The 2017 season was a big one for beach volleyball in Austria – but the national teams are set for a shake-up in 2018 as the country’s stars align themselves in a new order for next season.

Amid the partner swapping – more on that shortly – is one constant: World Championship silver medalists Clemens Doppler and Alex Horst, Austria’s undisputed number one men’s team, are sticking together.

Another team staying on the same side of the sand are rising stars Martin Ermacora and Moritz Pristauz. Emacora, 23, and Pristauz, 21, finished 17th in their debut World Championships on home sand having burst on the scene in Klagenfurt in 2016.

Now here’s where it gets complicated! Two men’s teams that are going their separate ways are Robin Seidl and Tobias Winter and Thomas Kunert and Christoph Dressler.

Dressler and Seidl have since paired up, while Winter will play alongside Julian Hörl and Kunert will partner 22-year-old Philipp Waller.

Making up the men’s pairings are Alexander Huber and Lorenz Petutschnig and Daniel Mullner and Florian Schnetzer.

World Champ silver medalists Doppler/Horst are one Austrian team sticking together for the 2018 season

We hope you’ve got your head around all of these new partnerships… and now onto the women… and thankfully that’s a little easier to explain…

The big news of the summer was the retirement of legendary former European Champion Steffi Schwaiger after 15 years in the game. Her partner last season, Katharina Schützenhöfer, has reunited with former teammate Lena Plesiutschnig – whose partner Conny Rimser also called time on her career after the World Champs in Vienna.

That leaves rising stars, Teresa and Nadine Strauss – following Nadine’s recovery from injury – and Eva Freiberger and Elisabeth Klopf.

So there you have it! After the amazing atmosphere at the World Championships in Vienna, the Austrian teams will be doing all they can to ensure themselves a place at the first Vienna Major tournament next summer.