Pfretzschner & Winter and Hammarberg & Berger also advance from qualifiers to pool winners’ matches, highlighting a day of unexpected results at the Beach Pro Tour.
Portuguese duo Joao Pedrosa and Hugo Campos commenced their campaign at the Joao Pessoa Elite16 event on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour with a spectacular performance on Wednesday. After successfully navigating a demanding qualifying match in the morning, they delivered a stunning upset against the world`s top-ranked team in the afternoon, during the initial pool play matches of the main draw.
Having already secured a hard-fought 2-1 (21-15, 19-21, 17-15) victory against Switzerland’s Adrian Heidrich & Jonathan Jordan, the fourth seeds in qualification, Pedrosa & Campos found themselves in a formidable position in Pool A of the main draw, facing the formidable Norwegian pair Anders Mol & Christian Sorum. Mol & Sorum are Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions, Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalists, 2022 world champions, and reigning European champions. The encounter with these top seeds unfolded similarly to their earlier match. The Portuguese team took the first set, dropped the second, but then prevailed in an extended tie-breaker with a score of 2-1 (21-19, 16-21, 17-15). Pedrosa was a key player with 22 points, including five blocks and an ace, while Campos contributed 18 points, with two aces. Despite both Mol & Sorum scoring 23 points each, with Mol adding six kill blocks, it wasn`t enough to secure the win.
Looking ahead to Thursday, Pedrosa & Campos will vie for the top spot in their pool and a direct qualification to the round of 12 against US Olympians Miles Evans & Chase Budinger, who convincingly beat Switzerland’s Marco Krattiger & Leo Dillier 2-0 (21-12, 21-13). Meanwhile, Mol & Sorum will compete against the Swiss team in a crucial match to stay in the competition.
Other Notable Upsets in Pool Play
Pool F also delivered its share of surprises, with both qualified teams winning their initial main draw matches. Germany’s Lukas Pfretzschner & Sven Winter, after a straightforward 2-0 (21-16, 21-12) qualification win against Chile’s Vicente Droguett & Fernando Quintero, staged a remarkable 2-1 (24-26, 21-16, 15-11) comeback against the sixth-seeded home favorites Evandro Oliveira & Arthur Mariano Lanci. Pfretzschner was the standout performer, scoring a match-high 23 points, including two aces and two blocks.
In the same Pool F, 18th-seeded Austrian qualifiers Timo Hammarberg & Tim Berger achieved a 2-0 (26-24, 21-14) upset against the seventh-seeded Latvians Martins Plavins & Kristians Fokerots. Berger was instrumental with a 24-point match high, including two aces and two blocks. Earlier, the Austrians had secured a 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) victory over Spain’s Alejandro Huerta & Adrian Gavira in the qualification rounds.
Further Pool Play Highlights
Pool B witnessed two matches decided in tie-breakers. Second-seeded Dutch pair Stefan Boermans & Yorick de Groot overcame Brazilian qualifiers Adelmo Folha & Mateus Dultra 2-1 (18-21, 21-14, 15-13), while Norwegians Mathias Berntsen & Hendrik Mol secured a 2-1 (26-24, 18-21, 15-7) victory over France’s Teo Rotar & Arnaud Gauthier-Rat.
In Pool C, the third-seeded young Swedes Jacob Holting Nilsson & Elmer Andersson were pushed to a third set, eventually triumphing 2-1 (21-18, 12-21, 17-15) against Brazilian qualifiers Vinicius Freitas & Heitor Barbosa in an overtime tie-breaker. Concurrently, the world’s third-ranked team, Nicolas Capogrosso & Tomas Capogrosso of Argentina, delivered a dominant 2-0 (21-14, 21-14) performance against Australian Olympians Mark Nicolaidis & Izac Carracher.
The other prominent Swedish duo, fourth-seeded reigning Olympic champions David Ahman & Jonatan Hellvig, also required a tie-breaker in their opening Pool D match. They narrowly defeated French qualifiers Remi Bassereau & Calvin Aye 2-1 (21-17, 18-21, 15-13). They are set to face Brazil’s George Wanderley & Saymon Barbosa, who secured a 2-0 (21-17, 22-20) victory over USA’s Chaim Schalk & James Shaw.
Finally, in Pool E, Poland’s Michal Bryl & Bartosz Losiak, and the Netherlands’ Steven van de Velde & Alexander Brouwer, lived up to their higher seedings by winning their matches in straight sets. Bryl & Losiak won 2-0 (21-13, 27-25) against Brazilian qualifiers Andre Stein & Renato Lima, and van de Velde & Brouwer won 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) against German qualifiers Jonas Sagstetter & Benedikt Sagstetter.
The men`s main draw action in Joao Pessoa is scheduled to recommence on Thursday at 15:00 local time (18:00 UTC) with the decisive pool matches.
Oliver Wrenwick