The Netherlands showed strength on the second day of the main draw of this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite event and had three men’s teams winning their pools in the Swiss Alps on Thursday.

Stefan Boermans/Yorick de Groot, Alexander Brouwer/Steven van de Velde and Matthew Immers/Leon Luini were among the six pool winners and earned each a spot in the tournament’s Round of 12. Hosts Switzerland, Norway and Qatar had the other duos that finished first in their pools.

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The winners of a FIVB World Tour event held in Gstaad back in 2021, Paris Olympians Boermans and de Groot emerged as the top team in Pool B. The two, who had defeated French Rémi Bassereau and Calvin Aye on Wednesday, edged reigning European champions Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots of Latvia in their second pool match, winning 2-0 (21-19, 22-20).

Standing at the top of the standings in Pool D are Olympic medalist Brouwer and partner Van de Velde. A new team in the 2025 season, the Dutch topped the home duo of Adrian Heidrich and Jonathan Jordan in the tie-breaker (19-21, 21-15, 15-10) to secure a pass to the event’s Round of 12.

Van de Velde’s former partner Immers and his new teammate Luini were the surprising winners in Pool F. Playing just their second tournament together, the Dutch, who started the event in the qualifier on Wednesday morning, secured their third victory in the Swiss Alps on Thursday, beating Cuban Olympians Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz 3-1 (21-23, 21-19, 16-14) to emerge as the top team in the pool.

Mol and Sørum keep their record clean

FIVB World Ranking leaders Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway had the cleanest record among all teams in pool play, completing their Pool A campaign with two victories and no sets dropped. The Tokyo Olympic champions, who had swept Swedish Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson on Wednesday, did the same to Australian Olympians Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert on Thursday, winning 2-0 (21-15, 21-13) to continue their march for their third gold in Gstaad.

Fellow Tokyo Olympic medalists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar formed the best team in Pool C. The Asians prevented Norway from having two pool winners by sweeping (21-19, 21-17) Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen in the pool final on Thursday.

Swiss qualifiers Marco Krattiger and Leo Dillier continued their excellent campaign in Gstaad by claiming their third victory in two days to come out on top in Pool E. The Europeans had a fierce battle against Brazilians Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci, but prevailed 2-1 (21-19, 15-21, 15-13) to continue progressing.

The six pool winners advanced directly to the Round of 12. The six teams that lost the pool finals will play in the Round of 18, as well as the ones that win the last matches in each pool, which are still set to take place on Thursday.

The Round of 18 duels will have Evandro/Arthur Lanci vs. USA's Andy Benesh/Miles Partain, Plavins/Fokerots vs. Hölting Nilsson/Elmer Andersson, Alayo/Diaz vs. Austria's Christoph Dressler/Philipp Waller, Hodges/Schubert vs. Brazil's André Loyola/George Wanderley, Heidrich/Jordan vs. Czechia's Ondřej Perušič/David Schweiner and Mol/Berntsen vs. Germany's Nils Ehlers/Clemens Wickler.

Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite – Match Schedule & Results

Both elimination rounds will be held on Friday in Gstaad. Saturday’s schedule for the men features the quarterfinals and the semifinals, with the medal matches ending the event on Sunday.

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