Home teams start well in Warmia Mazury

Polish pairs Bryl/Łosiak and Kantor/Lejawa secured victories in their opening matches, guaranteeing their progression to the elimination rounds.

Competing on home sand at the Warmia Mazury Challenge this week, Polish beach volleyball teams got off to a promising start in the men`s main draw on Thursday.

Both Polish duos featured at Anders Hotel Beach – Michal Bryl/Bartosz Łosiak and Piotr Kantor/Filip Lejawa – won their initial pool play contests, ensuring their places in the next stage of the competition.

The top-seeded team in the main draw, Olympians Bryl and Łosiak had a comfortable debut in Pool A, defeating Ukrainian qualifiers Ivan Datsiuk and Oleksii Bublyk in straight sets (21-14, 21-12).

The pair, who joined forces in 2022 and have since claimed four Beach Pro Tour gold medals, are scheduled to face German Olympic medalists Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler in their second pool match on Friday. Ehlers and Wickler advanced by topping Swiss Adrian Heidrich and Jonathan Jordan 2-0 (21-13, 21-18). The winners of this match will proceed directly to the Round of 16, while the losers will compete in the Round of 24.

Entering the main draw in Warmia Mazury with a wildcard, two-time Olympian Kantor and his 20-year-old partner Lejawa made an impressive start, upsetting Australian Olympians Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert with a dominant two-set victory (21-11, 21-17) in their first Pool C match.

The Polish team, appearing together for just the sixth time this week, will take on Canadians Sam Schachter and Jonathan Pickett on Friday for a direct qualification spot in the Round of 16. Schachter and Pickett defeated Chileans Vicente Droguett and Fernando Quintero 2-0 (21-11, 21-13).

The Pool B final will feature an all-Swedish clash after reigning Olympic champions David Åhman and Joanatan Hellvig overcame Latvians Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Gustavs Auzinš in two sets (21-9, 21-17). In the same pool, Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson secured a tie-breaker victory over Brazilians Heitor Benitto and Vinicius Freitas (14-21, 21-19, 15-7) in their opening match.

In Pool D, the first teams to advance were Brazilians Pedro Oliveira and Renato Lima, who narrowly defeated compatriots Gustavo ‘Guto’ Carvalhaes and Vitor Felipe in three hard-fought sets (28-30, 21-13, 18-16). Also securing progression were Swiss Marco Krattiger and Leo Dillier, who handled French Rémi Bassereau and Calvin Aye in two sets (21-16, 21-16).

Pool E saw only one match played on Thursday, with Dutch pair Matthew Immers and Leon Luini defeating Austrians Cristopher Dressler and Philipp Waller in straight sets (21-16, 21-14). The other Pool E match resulted in a forfeit victory for Austrians Tim Berger and Timo Hammarberg, as their compatriots Paul Pascariuc and Alexander Horst were unable to compete due to injury.

Czechs and Israelis cause upsets in Pool F

Pool F began with a couple of surprising results. Czech qualifiers Jakub Sepka and Jiri Sedlak upset the sixth-seeded German team of Sven Winter and Lukas Pfretzschner in a tie-breaker (22-20, 12-21, 15-13). Similarly, Israeli qualifiers Eylon Elazar and Kevin Cuzmiciov defeated another German pair, Paul Henning and Lui Wüst, in two sets (21-17, 25-23).

In Pool G, the teams starting strong were the Chilean Grimalt cousins, Marco and Esteban, who secured a close three-set victory (15-21, 21-17, 15-13) against Brazilians Saymon Barbosa and George Wanderley. French duo Téo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat also advanced, sweeping (21-15, 27-25) Australians Paul Burnett and Luke Ryan.

Finally, in Pool H, the first teams to qualify were American Olympians Miles Evans and Chase Budinger, who defeated Germans Maximilian Just and Philipp Huster in straight sets (21-16, 21-18). Joining them are Ukrainians Sergiy Popov and Eduard Reznik, who earned a three-set victory (20-22, 21-14, 15-9) over Italians Alex Ranghieri and Manuel Alfieri.

Friday’s schedule in Poland includes the conclusion of pool play, followed by the Round of 16 matches. The tournament continues on Saturday with the Round of 24 and the quarterfinals, culminating on Sunday with the semifinals and medal matches.