Hosts Poland earned a direct spot in the Round of 16 of this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Warmia Mazury Challenge with the young duo of Malgorzata Ciezkowska and Urszula Lunio on Thursday.

The Polish came out on top in a pool that featured three Olympians and progressed as one of the eight pool winners of the event held at Anders Hotel Beach, skipping the tournament’s Round of 24.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Warmia Mazury Challenge live on VBTV

The U20 European champions in 2023, the 20-year-old Ciezkowska and the 21-year-old Lunio had an exciting main draw debut in front of their home fans on Thursday, taking down Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Taliqua Clancy and her Australian partner Jana Milutinovic in two sets (24-22, 21-10).

A few hours later, the two returned to the sand and claimed their second big victory in the day, beating Brazilians Vitória Rodrigues and Hegeile ‘Hegê’ Almeida also 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) to confirm their qualification for the Round of 16 of the event.

Germans and Americans win two pools each

Germany and the United States were the most successful nations in pool play in Poland, with each of them having two pool winners in Warmia Mazury. Germans Sandra Ittlinger and Anna-Lena Grüne emerged as the top team in Pool A after they defeated Polish Natalia Okla and Julia Radelczuk 2-0 (21-13, 21-9) and overcame French Olympians Lézana Placette and Alexia Richard in the tie-breaker (23-21, 21-23, 15-12).

Lea Kunst and Melanie Paul also went undefeated on Thursday, winning both their Pool B matches. They started the day with a two-set (22-20, 21-18) victory over Ukrainians Valentyna Davidova and Anhelina Khmil and followed up on it with a sweep (21-18, 36-34) of French Olympians Clémence Vieira and Aline Chamereau.

Americans Savvy Simo and Abby Van Winkle stood out as the top team in Pool C after they topped Dutch Olympian Raisa Schoon and partner Mila Konink in two sets (21-18, 21-11) and defeated Japanese Reika Murakami and Asami Shiba also in straight sets (21-13, 21-19).

Their compatriots Kimberly Hildreth and Teegan Van Gunst had to work harder to finish first in Pool F as they played two three-setters on Thursday. The Americans handled Brazilians Andressa Cavalcante and Tainá Bigi in three sets (18-21, 21-11, 15-12) in their first match and then came out on top in another tie-breaker (21-15, 17-21, 18-16) to take down Australians Elizabeth Alchin and Georgia Johnson.

Pool E had Dutch Wies Bekhuis and Emi van Driel as the best-ranked team. The two were very clean in their first two matches in Poland, defeating Lithuanians Jekaterina Kovalskaja and Daniele Kvedaraite in straight sets (21-17, 21-11) and sweeping (22-20, 21-15) Americans Corinne Quiggle and Megan Rice.

Ukrainians Maryna Hladun and Tetiana Lazarenko were the best team in Pool D. The Europeans downed two duos from their own continent in Warmia Mazury on Thursday, beating Germans Linda Bock and Louisa Lippmann 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) and overcoming Czechs Márie-Sara Štochlová and Marketa Svozilova also in two sets (21-19, 24-22).

Spanish Olympians Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno completed the list of pool winners with their victory in Pool G. The two had somewhat of an uneventful day in Poland, sweeping (21-11, 21-13) New Zealanders Olivia MacDonald and Shaunna Polley and also needing just two sets (21-16, 21-15) to handle Finish Niina Ahtiainen and Taru Lahti.

The eight Round of 24 duels on Friday will have Alcin/Johnson vs. Bock/Lippmann, Quiggle/Rice vs. Schoon/Konink, Ahtiainen/Lathi vs. Radelczuk/Okla, Vieira/Chamereau vs. Czechia’s Anna Pavelková/Katerina Pavelková, Vitória/Hegê vs. Davidova/Khmil, Placette/Richard vs. the Netherlands’ Noa Sonneville/Brecht Piersma, Štochlová/Svozilova vs. Clancy/Milutinovic and Reika/Shiba vs. USA’s Julia Donlin/Lexy Denaburg.

Beach Pro Tour Warmia Mazury Challenge – Match Schedule & Results

The Round of 16 will also be held on Friday. The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, with the medal matches ending the event on Sunday.

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