Commonwealth Games beach volleyball gold medallists Chris McHugh and Damien Schumann separated for road to Tokyo 2020

VOLLEYBALL Australia has made the shock decision to split Commonwealth Games beach gold medallists Chris McHugh and Damien Schumann in a bid to qualify two pairings for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Zachery Schubert and Chris McHugh are teaming up to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Picture: Keryn Stevens (AAP).

VOLLEYBALL Australia has made the shock decision to split Commonwealth Games beach gold medallists Chris McHugh and Damien Schumann in a bid to qualify two pairings for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Six weeks after they triumphed on the sand at Coolangatta, McHugh and Schumann were called to a meeting at the sport’s headquarters in Adelaide and told they would be separated immediately.

McHugh will now play with fellow South Australian, 22-year-old Zachery Schubert and Schumann will team with Western Australian Cole Durant.

“To give Australia the best chance of qualifying two teams for Tokyo,” McHugh told The Advertiser.

“Initially it was a bit of a shock after we did so well at Comm Games winning the gold medal, but Zach is an exciting prospect for beach volleyball, he’s the youngest in the team but a highly talented athlete and with both of us coming from the SASI program it’s exciting.

“We train daily together, previously on opposite sides of the court, but I think we’ll give it a real good shake, he’s one of the most talented young players in the world at the moment so I think we can make an impact quite early.”

McHugh with Damien Schumann and their Commonwealth Games gold medals. Picture: Brenton Edwards (AAP).

McHugh is currently recovering from knee surgery but their first tournament together will b e in China next month before competing in Tokyo, Vienna and Moscow.

“So a couple of SA boys out to take on the world,” McHugh said.

The most direct way to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics is to be ranked top 15 in the world at the time of selection.

Schubert is from Loxton where he grew up on the family farm before moving to Adelaide for his sport in 2013.

“I’ve only been a full-time athlete for the past 12 months and before then I was a part-time uni student and working in coaching jobs and washing dishes,” Schubert said.

“This is a big opportunity, I get to play with Chris who is by far the most dominant player in Australia right now and there aren’t many guys my age who are playing on the world stage.”

Both McHugh and Schubert stand 198cm and say they’ll need to play well above the stick to compete with some of the Europeans who tower at 217cm.

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