Beach volleyball gold medallists Chris McHugh and Damien Schumann prepare for Olympic qualification

COMMONWEALTH Games beach volleyball gold medallist Chris McHugh has had knee surgery as he and teammate Damien Schumann prepare for the two-year qualification window for the Tokyo Olympics.

Damien Schumann and Chris McHugh toast their Comm Games gold medals at Henley Beach this month. Picture: Brenton Edwards (AAP).

COMMONWEALTH Games beach volleyball gold medallist Chris McHugh has had knee surgery as he and teammate Damien Schumann prepare for the two-year qualification window for the Tokyo Olympics.

McHugh and Schumann were long-time rivals but are now lifelong friends after they teamed up last year and won an epic final against Canada at the Gold Coast Games in April.

After toasting their success, they quickly turned their attention to qualifying for Tokyo which starts in September.

“The knee’s been pretty average the last 4-5 months so I just had to manage it (cartilage damage) through to Comm Games then fall over the finish line and get it sorted afterwards,” McHugh said.

“Now is the time to sort everything out and get things ready for Olympic qualification.”

McHugh will be off his feet for two weeks and out of full training for 6-8 but was back in the gym doing upper body work within days last week.

“The Comm Games was the most important tournament this year and we got the result everyone wanted, so now it’s a matter of rebuilding the bodies and getting back into some decent shape,” he said.

The most direct way for the pair to qualify for Tokyo is to be ranked in the top 15 in the world which McHugh believes is possible.

“We’re on the bubble at the moment, ranked 17-20 based on different results and that will slide a bit with us not playing for a while,” he said.

“But we’re certainly capable of being in the top 15 in the world and have shown at the world champs and on the Gold Coast that we can beat those top 10 teams, it’s just doing it week after week.”

The pair met for a beer at Henley Beach this month to reflect on a life-changing gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

“I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason, Damien being from Victoria and myself playing for South Australia there was that classic rivalry and we had a good crack at each other in juniors and he got the better of me when we were younger,” McHugh said.

“But me being a bit of a tall gumby and him more skilful it evened out over the years, but the Gold Coast experience and last 10 months has galvanised our mateship to a point where it’s something that will intertwine us for life.”

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