After two frustrated attempts, Jagoda Gruszczynska and Aleksandra Wachowicz are set to make their first appearance in the main draw of an Elite16 event of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour 2023 season this week in Montréal, Canada.

The Poles were among the four women’s teams that succeeded on Wednesday’s qualifier at the Notre Dame Island and will be back on the court when the main draw starts, on Thursday, at 09:00 local time (13:00 UTC).

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Montréal Elite16 matches live on VBTV

The 28-year-old Gruszczynska, a U21 world champion in 2013, and the 31-year-old Wachowicz entered the Montréal qualifier on a low after they lost their two pool matches at last week’s Edmonton Challenge to finish 19^th. The Europeans, however, overcame two tie-breakers to shift their momentum and earn the right of competing in the main draw of an Elite16 event for the first time in 2023 after falling in the qualifiers in Ostrava and Gstaad.

In the first round of the qualifier in Montréal, the Poles topped Japan’s Miki Ishii, a Tokyo Olympian, and Sayaka Mizoe 2-1 (21-15, 15-21, 15-13). The script was the same in their second-round duel as after a first-set win, the two were pushed to the tie-breaker, where they overcame Italians Margherita Bianchin and Claudia Scampoli also in three sets (21-15, 17-21, 15-9).

In the main draw, Gruszczynska and Wachowicz will be in Pool A, where they will face Brazil’s Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa/Ana Patrícia Ramos and Ágatha Bednarczuk/Rebecca Cavalcanti and Thailand’s Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee/Taravadee Naraphornrapat.

The other three duos that advanced from the Montréal Elite16 qualifier on Wednesday were Switzerland’s Zoé Vergé-Dépré/Esmée Böbner, Brazil’s Talita Antunes/Thamela Coradello and USA’s Betsi Flint/Julia Scoles.

Beach Pro Tour Montréal Elite16 – Match Schedule and Results

The men’s qualifier in Canada had an all-Australian match in the second round, with a spot in the main draw on the line. After two sets, 23-year-olds Izac Carracher and Mark Nicolaidis upset Tokyo Olympian Chris McHugh and partner Paul Burnett to qualify with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-19) win.

The Aussies, who had knocked out Americans Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk with a three-set (28-26, 22-24, 16-14) victory in the first round, will also make their first main draw appearance in an Elite16 event this season.

Carracher and Nicolaidis will be in Pool B in the main draw and will battle USA’s Andy Benesh/Miles Partain and the Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen and Matthew Immers/Yorick de Groot for three spots in the elimination rounds.

The three remaining main draw spots went to USA’s Miles Evans/Chase Budinger and Brazil’s Pedro Solberg/Gustavo ‘Guto’ Carvalhaes and Vitor Felipe/Renato Lima, who each won a pair of matches on Wednesday's qualifier.

The pool play round will be held from Thursday to Friday, with the three best teams in each pool advancing. Formed by the Round of 12 and the quarterfinals, the elimination round will be played on Saturday in Montréal, with the semifinals and medal matches ending the event on Sunday.

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