It's literally minutes until the day starts over in Stare Jablonki, so we'll make this quick.
Pool A:
1. Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel (POL)
24. Isaac Kapa/Christopher McHugh (AUS)
25. Esteban Grimalt/Marco Grimalt (CHI)
48. Inocencio Lario Carrillo/Javier Monfort Minaya (ESP)
At least the top seeds on the men's side aren't really an aberration. They should win the pool without much trouble. I don't really know either the Chilean or Spanish teams (and the Spanish team have a fair point total for such a low seed), so I don't know who's the likeliest to lose out on the knockout round. Maybe both.
Pool B:
2. Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego (BRA)
23. Martins Plavins/Janis Peda (LAT)
26. Matteo Cecchini/Paolo Ingrosso (ITA)
47. Jaroslaw Lech/Damian Wojtasik (POL)
It's these Poles that are the only real "sore-thumb" team in the field, based on their point total. They're not going anywhere. Neither are Alison/Emanuel, most likely. The defending world champions will of course advance, and they may even win the pool, but I doubt we'll see them any later than the quarterfinals of the knockout stage. Were I a betting woman, I'd guess it'd happen sooner.
Pool C:
3. Philip Dalhausser/Sean Rosenthal (USA)
22. Alexander Huber/Robin Seidl (AUT)
27. Sebastian Chevallier/Mats Kovatsch (SUI)
46. Juan Virgen/Lombardo Ontiveros (MEX)
Fun mix of teams here. After a few hiccups following the season-opening win in Fuzhou, Dalhausser and Rosenthal were back on the top of the podium in Rome and have to be the (if slight) favourites for this world championship. They're joined by one of the season's real pleasant surprises in the Austrians Huber and Seidl, and "Team Virgin Olive Oil," who impressed me in a qualification tourney a few weeks back.
Pool D:
4. Jacob Gibb/Casey Patterson (USA)
21. Konstantin Semenov/Yaroslav Koshkarev (RUS)
28. Iver Andreas Horrem/Geir Eithun (NOR)
45. Sergiy Popov/Valeriy Samoday (UKR)
The biggest challenge for Casey and "Spiker" are probably the bottom-ranked Ukrainians. The Russians and the Norwegians have had trouble this season getting past qualifications, and the Norwegians still have yet to win even a single main-draw match this year. I'll be surprised if the Americans don't sweep their way through this pool.
Pool E:
5. Pedro Solberg Salgado/Bruno Oscar Schmidt (BRA)
20. Evandro Gonçalves Oliveira Júnior/Vitor Gonçalves Felipe (BRA)
29. Michiel van Dorsten/Tim Oude Elferink (NED)
44. Pablo Herrera Allepuz/Adrián Gavira Collado (ESP)
Pedro and Bruno will win this pool easily. They're probably the second favourites behind Dalhausser/Rosenthal, them at 2-A and Gibb/Patterson at 2-B. These Spaniards are a good team, but Herrera is still returning to form after injuries. Never heard of the Dutch pair. Evandro and Vitor are solid, and they'll move on, but they can't hold a candle to Pedro/Bruno.
Pool F:
6. Janis Smedins/Aleksandrs Samoilovs (LAT)
19. Daan Spijkers/Christiaan Varenhorst (NED)
30. Ruslans Sorokins/Toms Smedins (LAT)
43. Daniel Müllner/Jörg Wutzl (AUT)
We'll get a brother vs brother match in this pool, when the two Latvian sides square off. (Janis) Smedins and Samoilovs have played in gold finals three events running, winning one. Making it a fourth in a row would be quite an accomplishment indeed.
Pool G:
7. Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil (NED)
18. Markus Böckermann/Mischa Urbatzka (GER)
31. Philip Gabathuler/Jonas Weingart (SUI)
42. Stefan Gunnarsson/Hannes Brinkborg (SWE)
Sorry to say it, but I think Nummerdor/Schuil probably are over the hill at this point. Maybe they should have hung up their boardshorts between last year and this. I expect the Germans will win this pool, and the Swiss will finish second. Hopefully I'm wrong, because it would be a little embarrassing for a team with as rich a history as these Dutch men to be eliminated without even reaching the knockout round.
Pool H:
8. Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik (GER)
17. Todd Rogers/Ryan Doherty (USA)
32. Igor Hernandez/Jesus Villafañe (VEN)
41. Pablo Bianchi/Facundo Del Coto (ARG)
Erdmann/Matysik played well in Rome, and should win this pool easily. Frankly, I'm a little suprirsed Rogers/Doherty are still playing together, and will be more so if they're still going at it together in a month's time. They'll advance, but I don't see them making a deep run.
Pool J:
9. Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo (ITA)
16. Sebastian Fuchs/Thomas Kaczmarek (GER)
33. Nicholas Lucena/John Hyden (USA)
40. Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk (CAN)
It's looking more and more with each passing week that Julius Brink may be joining his Olympic champion teammate Jonas Reckermann in medically-mandated retirement, as he misses this world championship. Nicolai/Lupo should win this pool, though be on the lookout for Lupo's really weird serving again. How nice it must be for these Americans and Canadians to be able to eschew qualification play, if only just this once.
Pool K:
10. Ricardo Alex Costa Santos/Álvaro Morais Filho (BRA)
15. Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst (AUT)
34. Premysl Kubala/Petr Benes (CZE)
39. Dmitriy Yakovlev/Alexey Kuleshov (KAZ)
Ricardo and Alvaro certainly have the talent to win this pool, and make a deep run, but will they necessarily do it? They've been a little hit-or-miss this season. The more experienced (together) duo of Doppler/Horst might be the better bet to take the pool.
Pool L:
11. Sebastian Dollinger/Stefan Windscheif (GER)
14. Alexey Sidorenko/Alexandr Dyachenko (KAZ)
35. Serguei Prokopiev/Yury Bogatov (RUS)
38. Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (POL)
All four of these teams have seemed at times to be right on the cusp of breaking through to something pretty special. They're all strong enough to win the pool. The Kazakhs are probably my personal favourites, though the Germans are also a team I've been hoping to see on Sunday sometime this season.
Pool M:
12. Michal Kadziola/Jakub Szalankiewicz (POL)
13. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (NED)
36. Jackson Henriquez/Leonard Alexis Colina Chourio (VEN)
37. Robert Kufa/Jan Hadrava (CZE)
This, really, is another crop of teams looking to take the next step. The Poles have the best result this season, a Sunday appearance in Shanghai where they lost in the bronze final to Ricardo/Alvaro. I don't think any of these four will make it that far this week, but this pool will probably provide for some entertaining matches. The match between the Poles and the Dutch will decide who takes the pool.
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