The main draw line-up at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Ostrava Elite16 event is now complete, as four quality teams per gender earned the right to play in the Czech sand on Thursday after emerging victorious from Wednesday’s qualifiers.

USA’s Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil, Poland’s Kinga Wojtasik and Katarzyna Kociolek, Germany’s Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Muller and Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli and Nina Brunner filled up the vacancies in the women’s pool play, while USA’s Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb, Austria’s Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller, Spain’s Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira and Italy’s Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava snatched the available spots in the men’s main draw to stay in contention for Elite16 honours.

Thursday’s main draw programme will start at 09:30 local time with world’s number one Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon of the Netherlands taking on Brazil’s Andressa Cavalcanti and Vitoria Rodrigues at centre court, while another Brazilian pair, Barbara Seixas and Carol Solberg, face Wojtasik and Kociolek at court two.

· All the matches of the Ostrava Elite16 are available to watch live or on demand on Volleyball TV.

Cannon and Sponcil were the first to claim two wins in Wednesday’s qualifiers and advance to the main draw. The Americans started off with a 2-1 (21-17, 15-21, 15-12) victory over Austria’s Katharina Schutzenhofer and Lena Plesiutschnig in the first qualification round and then mastered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-11) shutout of Germany’s Chantal Laboureur and Sarah Schulz in the second-round decider.

Wojtasik and Kociolek qualified after knocking out two higher seeded opponents. A 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) straight-setter against Spain’s Belen Carro and Angela Lobato was followed by a hard-earned 2-1 (19-21, 29-27, 15-13) comeback victory over Germany’s Sandra Ittlinger and Isabel Schneider, seeded third in the qualification bracket.

A German duo will, however, compete in the Ostrava main draw. Second-seeded Tillmann and Muller achieved two straight-set wins to progress, 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) over Czechia’s Anna Pospisilova and Martina Williams and 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) over Japan’s Miki Ishii and Sayaka Mizoe.

“The goal was to win the qualification. At the beginning, we were very nervous, but now we are happy,” Tillmann and Muller said. “The main draw begins tomorrow. Of course, it will be better if it is sunny, but we enjoyed it with the rain today too. The crowd was here and cheering anyway, and that’s what we like about beach volleyball.”

Top-seeded Huberli and Brunner went through the first round with a bye, but in the second, their younger compatriots Esmee Bobner and Zoe Verge-Depre made them work for it. Huberli and Brunner came back from a set down to win the all-Swiss clash by 2-1 (16-21, 21-15, 15-11).

Following on the footsteps of fellow Americans Cannon and Sponcil, Bourne and Crabb claimed the first main draw vacancy on the men’s side. First, they shut out Poland’s Piotr Kantor and Maciej Rudol by 2-0 (21-18, 21-18). Then, the US pair delivered a speedy 2-0 (21-14, 21-11) upset of top-seeded Australians Christopher McHugh and Paul Burnett.

Fourth-seeded Seidl and Waller had a much tougher day. They persevered through two tie-breakers to claim two comeback victories and celebrate with a ticket to the main draw. In their early match, the Austrians turned it around to a 2-1 (16-21, 21-11, 15-7) win over Germany’s Lukas Pfretzschner and Robin Sowa. In the decider, they battled it out for a 2-1 (15-21, 21-13, 15-10) success against Switzerland’s Marco Krattiger and Florian Breer.

Spanish veterans Herrera and Gavira advanced after a hard-fought 2-1 (21-18, 20-22, 15-13) victory over 20-year-old Swedes David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, who won gold at the Kuşadası Challenge last week and were seeded second in the Ostrava qualification bracket. Earlier in the day, the Spaniards defeated Leon Luini and Ruben Penninga of the Netherlands by 2-0 (21-18, 21-15).

“It has been perfect for us today. A month ago we didn’t know if we could play the Doha Challenge because of Pablo’s recovery, but now we are playing really well,” said Gavira. “We are really happy with these two victories today. The Swedes played very well four days ago in Turkey. They are young and they can play with many combinations. We are old and play the classic style, but we’re still alive in the tournament.”

In the last match of the day, Nicolai and Cottafava overcame Brazil’s Evandro Oliveira and Alvaro Filho after an emphatic second set for a 2-0 (21-19, 21-7) victory and a spot in the main draw. In their first match, the Italians produced a similar result against Mexico’s Miguel Sarabia and Juan Virgen, 2-0 (21-18, 21-11).

Ostrava Elite16 - schedule and results

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