Kotnik and Kernen, Smith and Webber confirmed for Queen & King of the Court London Showcase

They will be joined at the free-to-spectate event – held at the spectacular venue of Canada Square in Canary Wharf (E14 5AH) - by men’s duo Hagen Smith and Logan Webber, who have also confirmed their participation. 

Slovenian Kotnik, 31, has secured top-10 finishes in Beach Pro Tour Challenge events this year in both Guadalajara and Recife playing alongside regular partner Tajda Lovsin. 

She was also part of the Slovenian team that qualified for and played in the Nations Cup Final in Jurmala, Latvia in June and she also contested the QKOTC’s Ultimate Mashup event in Utrecht earlier this month. 

Kernen, 19, from Switzerland, has teamed up with fellow countrywoman Annique Niederhauser to clinch top-five placings at Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Spiez, Messina and Baden. 

She has also played in the Challenge level event in Xiamen, China and the Elite 16 event in Gstaad in her home country. 

Smith, 29, and Webber, 28 are regular playing partners and won the Beach Pro Tour Futures event in Battipaglia, Italy in May. 

They have also enjoyed top-five finishes in Sveti Vlas, Bulgaria (Futures) and Xiamen, China (Challenge), claiming third place on the podium in the former.  

The American pair played in the QKOTC Crown Series event in Hamburg in late May and early June. 

Other international players already lined up to play the London Showcase in the women’s section are Marie-Sára Štochlová (Czechia) and Sunniva Helland-Hansen (Norway), Lithuanians Ieva Dumbauskaite and Gerda Grudzinskaite and New Zealanders Alice Zeimann and Olivia MacDonald. 

British-based women competing are Anaya Evans and Katie Keefe, Kirsty Star and Alice Jagielska, Jess Grimson and Molly Quinn, Katie Barbour and Rachel Morrison and SideOut guest pair Aga Adamek and Eszter Nagy. 

On the men’s side, Smith and Webber join fellow overseas stars Mees Sengers (The Netherlands) and Tim Brewster (USA), Austrians Felix Friedl and Alexander Huber and Estonians Mart Tiisaar and Dmitri Korotkov. 

The British men so far confirmed are world top 25-ranked Javier and Joaquin Bello, recent Beach Pro Tour Futures winners Freddie Bialokoz and Issa Batrane and Enrique Bello and Josue Seekings. 

Overall, there will be 20 teams (10 women, 10 men) who will play in the event. 

Follow the Volleyball England news pages over the coming days to find out who will fill the remaining available slots. 

Click here to view the Queen & King of the Court home page for full details about the event, including timings.