Homecourt advantage did play a factor in the first day of the women’s main draw of this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite event in Hamburg, and teams representing hosts Germany took full advantage of it to win all four matches they played on Thursday.

Svenja Müller/Cinja Tillmann, Linda Bock/Louisa Lippmann, Sandra Ittlinger/Anna-Lena Grüne and Paula Schürholz/Lea Kunst all triumphed without dropping sets at the Am Rothenbaum Stadium and guaranteed their spots in the elimination rounds. On Friday, the four German teams and the eight other duos that went undefeated in the opening day will have the chance to advance directly to the Round of 12 if they win their second pool matches.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Hamburg Elite live on VBTV

The top women’s team representing Germany this week in their home tournament, Müller and Tillmann had a positive start to their campaign on Thursday, downing Japanese qualifiers Asami Shiba and Reika Murakami in two sets (21-8, 22-20). On Friday, they will face Czechs Markéta Svozilová and Marie-Sára Štochlová, who upset Brazilians Hegeile ‘Hegê’ Almeida and Vitória Rodrigues with a straight-set (21-19, 21-19) victory in the other Pool A match.

Ittlinger and Grüne were one of the two teams that triumphed in their first-round matches in Pool B. The Germans swept (21-9, 21-16) Dutch Emi van Driel and Wies Bekhuis in their first match and will now face the FIVB World Ranking leaders, Brazilians Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes, who had a complicated debut, needing all three sets (19-21, 21-17, 15-12) to overcome Estonian qualifiers Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg.

Fresh from having triumphed at the Baden Challenge at the start of the month, Bock and Lippmann kept the momentum going and topped Americans Kylie DeBerg and Xolani Hodel in two sets (21-12, 21-15) in Pool E. Their next opponents will be reigning Olympic champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos of Brazil, who also got started with a solid win over an American team, defeating Hailey Harward and Molly Phillips 2-0 (21-14, 21-16).

Schürholz and Kunst had arguably the most surprising victory of the day, as the wildcards got the better of Italians Claudia Scampoli and Giada Bianchi in Pool C, winning in two sets (21-17, 21-17). Latvian Olympians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova, who swept (21-19, 21-12) Czechs Kylie Neuschaeferova and Martina Maixnerova, will be their next opponents.

Not featuring any German teams, Pool D had Brazilian Olympians Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti, who downed Americans Brook Bauer and Madelyne Anderson in two sets (21-17, 21-16), and Finland’s Taru Lahti and Niina Ahtiainen, who took Dutch Raisa Schoon and Mila Konink down also in straight sets (21-14, 21-12), as the opening-day winners.

In Pool F, Italians Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth, who took down French Lézana Placette and Alexia Richard in straight sets (26-24, 21-16), and French Aline Chamereau and Clémence Vieira, who handled Ukrainians Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk in three (17-21, 21-17, 15-9), were the teams that started ahead.

Beach Pro Tour Hamburg Elite – Match Schedule & Results

Pool play will be completed on Friday in Hamburg, when the Round of 18 matches will also be held. The Round of 12 and the quarterfinals will follow on Saturday, with the semifinals and medal matches concluding the event on Sunday.

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