Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Müller continue to progress in the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event held in Gstaad, Switzerland.

On Thursday, one day after surviving the qualifier in the Swiss Alps, the Germans won two more matches in the tournament and are one of six teams already guaranteed in the elimination rounds.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite16 live on VBTV

The bronze medallists of last year’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship, Tillmann and Müller won all four matches they played in Gstadd – two in the qualifier, two in the main draw -, dropping just one set along the way.

On Thursday, the Germans initiated their main draw campaign in Pool C, topping Dutch Olympians Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) and overcoming Swiss youngsters Zoé Vergé-Dépré and Esmée Böbner in the tie-breaker (21-18, 23-25, 15-12).

With two wins, Tillmann and Müller share the first place in the pool with Americans Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, who have a similar campaign, having defeated Zoé and Esmée in two sets (21-17, 21-12) and Schoon and Stam in three (21-17, 18-21, 19-17).

On Friday, Germans and Americans will meet for the first place in the pool at 19:00 local time (17:00 UTC) – the winners will go directly to the quarterfinals of the Gstaad Elite16. At the same time, Dutch and Swiss will battle for the third place and a spot in the Round of 12.

Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite16 – Match Schedule and Results

Pool A will have a similar scenario entering the second day of pool play as undefeated Brazil’s Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa/Ana Patrícia Ramos and USA’s Betsi Flint/Julia Scoles are tied at the top of the standings with two wins.

The world champions topped fellow Brazilians Ágatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) and USA’s Terese Cannon/Sara Sponcil also in two sets (21-12, 24-22). The Americans, who started the tournament in the qualifier, were equally dominant, sweeping both their compatriots (21-16, 21-14) and the South Americans (23-21, 21-17).

Pool B has only one team undefeated and guaranteed in the elimination rounds – Australians Olympic medallists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho, who defeated Switzerland’s Joana Mäder/Anouk Vergé-Dépré 2-1 (21-15, 19-21, 15-9) and Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes/Brandie Wilkerson also in three sets (21-16, 17-21, 15-13).

On Friday, the Australians will face Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova, who lost their first two matches in Gstaad and need a win to maintain their hopes of advancing, while Swiss and Canadians will play each other.

Americans Taryin Kloth and Kristen Nuss are the top team in Pool D so far – the two topped Italians Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) and Swiss Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner 2-1 (21-14, 20-22, 18-16) to claim the first of three spots in play in the pool in the elimination rounds.

On Friday, the Americans will face Brazilians Bárbara Seixas and Carol Salgado, who had one win and one loss on Thursday, while Hüberli and Brunner, who also won one of their two matches, will battle the winless Menegatti and Gottardi.

Pool play will be completed on Friday, with each team playing its third match in the main draw. The top duo in each pool will move to the quarterfinals while the duos ranked second and third will have to go through the Round of 12. The elimination rounds will be held on Saturday and the medal matches on Sunday.

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