The most accomplished team to compete in the men’s tournament of this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge event held in Baden, Germans Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler were among the first eight duos to advance to the Round of 16 on Friday.

The Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalists formed one of the eight teams that finished first in their pools and earned a direct spot in the tournament’s Round of 16 at the Thermalstrandbad Baden. On Saturday, these duos will play their first elimination matches against teams that overcame the Round of 24 on Friday after ranking second or third in their pools.

• Watch Beach Pro Tour Baden Challenge live on VBTV

In Baden, Ehlers and Wickler are looking to return to the podium at the international level for the first time after their historic campaign in the French capital one year ago. In 2025, the two have appeared in five Beach Pro Tour events, but couldn’t make it past the quarterfinals.

After starting their Pool D campaign in Baden with a sweep of Australians Thomas Hodges and Joshua Howat on Thursday, the Germans were pushed harder by the Chilean Grimalt cousins Marco and Esteban in the pool final, but came out on top, winning in the tie-breaker (21-18, 17-21, 15-12).

In the Round of 16, the Olympic medalists will face Spanish Adrián Gavira and Alejandro Huerta, who prevailed over Germans Maximilian Just and Philipp Huster in a three-set (19-21, 21-15, 15-11) battle in the Round of 24.

Austrians top Pool A

Tim Berger and Timo Hammarberg were the only Austrian team to win their pool in Baden. The two triumphed in Pool A after sweeping (21-17, 21-18) Brazilians Vinícius Freitas and Heitor Benito on Friday and are now set to play against Israelis Eylon Elazar and Kevin Cuzmiciouv, who eliminated their compatriots Christoph Dressler and Philipp Waller in the Round of 24 with a two-set (21-19, 21-16) victory.

Ukrainians Sergiy Popov and Eduard Reznik stood out as the top team in Pool B after they overcame the English Bello twins Javier and Joaquin in three sets (19-21, 21-16, 15-8). In the Round of 16, they will face Swiss Yves Haussener and Julian Friedli, who dominated Italians Enrico Rossi and Marco Viscovich to win 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) in the Round of 24.

Swedish Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson dominated Haussener and Friedli to a two-set (21-16, 21-17) win to top Pool C with one of the best campaigns in pool play. Their next opponents, in the Round of 16, will be the Bello twins, who rebounded by taking down Italians Samuele Cottafava and Gianluca Dal Corso in straight sets (22-20, 21-17).

The Pool E winners were Portuguese Hugo Campos and João Pedrosa, who confirmed the top spot with a 2-1 (22-24, 21-13, 17-15) victory over Czech qualifiers Tadeas Trousil and Matyas Dzavoronok. Their first elimination match in Baden will be against Australian Olympians Izac Carracher and Mark Nicolaidis, who eliminated compatriots Hodges and Howat with a two-set (21-13, 21-16) victory in the Round of 24.

In Pool F, French Rémi Bassereau and Calvin Aye swept (21-18, 21-18) Carracher and Nicolaidis to end pool play undefeated and with no sets dropped. The Europeans will now meet Germans Paul Henning and Lui Wüst, who got the better of Vinícius and Heitor, topping them 2-0 (22-20, 21-18) in the Round of 24.

Italian qualifiers Alex Ranghieri and Manuel Alfieri continued in top form in Baden on Friday, beating Just and Huster 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) to get to their fourth-straight victory in the tournament and top Pool G. Their Round of 16 opponents will be American Olympians Miles Evans and Chase Budinger, who downed the Grimalts in straight sets (21-14, 21-14) to continue alive.

The top spot in Pool H went to Swiss Adrian Heidrich and Jonathan Jordan, who came out on top after downing Elazar and Cuzmiciov in straight sets (21-16, 21-17). On Saturday, they will play Germans Sven Winter and Lukas Pfretzschner, who earned a forfeit victory over Trousil and Dzavoronok in the Round of 24.

Beach Pro Tour Baden Challenge – Match Schedule and Results

Saturday’s match schedule in Austria will include the Round of 16 and the quarterfinal encounters. The semifinals and medal matches will be held on Sunday.

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