Back to the city where he won four international titles between 2018 and 2023, Brazilian Olympian André Loyola drew on the good memories to have a remarkable first day at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour 1xBet Itapema Elite on Wednesday.

The Paris Olympian won a pair of matches alongside new partner Renato Lima to advance from the qualifier to the main draw, and then to confirm their presence in the tournament's elimination rounds, having a promising start to their campaign in front of their home fans.

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André is hands down the most successful player to compete in Itapema, which hosted international events in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023 before returning to the Beach Pro Tour calendar this season. He won four of those tournaments, having triumphed in the first edition with Evandro Gonçalves and in the last three with George Wanderley.

After taking the first part of the year off, he joined forces with Renato in August and the two have played in three Beach Pro Tour Elite events since, besides getting a top-ten finish at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship last month.

With limited entry points, the Brazilians started the 1xBet Itapema Elite in the qualifier, but had no trouble taking compatriots Bruno Peiter and Nicholas Schosler down in straight sets (21-12, 21-12) and securing their spot in the main draw.

A few hours later, they made their main draw debut and again needed only two sets (27-25, 24-22) to defeat Italians Samuele Cottafava and Gianluca Del Corso in the first round of Pool E. On Thursday, they will end their pool play campaign against compatriots Heitor Benito and Vinícius Freitas, who defeated Americans Robert Harrison and Cody Caldwell in the tie-breaker (24-22, 12-21, 15-13), with the winners advancing directly to the Round of 12 as the top team in the pool.

Their compatriots Arthur Mariano and Adrielson dos Santos had an equally successful day in Itapema on Wednesday, downing Belgians Kyan Vercauteren and Joppe Van Langendonck 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) in the qualifier and getting another two-set (21-15, 21-13) victory in their Pool F debut, this one against Spanish Adrián Gavira and Alejandro Huerta. On Friday, they play the Capogrosso brothers Tomas and Nicolas, who swept (22-20, 21-17) Austrians Christoph Dressler and Mathias Seiser, in the match that will decide the pool winners.

Pool A started with victories of Brazilians Evandro and Arthur Lanci, who swept (21-13, 21-17) English Frederick Bialokoz and Issa Batrane, and Czechs Tadeas Trousil and Matyas Dzavoronok, who topped Italians Enrico Rossi and Marco Viscovich in the tie-breaker (14-21, 21-12, 15-12).

In Pool B, the two teams already guaranteed in the elimination rounds are Latvians Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots, who started their campaign with a three-set (21-18, 18-21, 17-15) win over Polish Piotr Kantor and Filip Lejawa, and Austrians Alexander Horst and Moritz Pristauz, who got the better of Brazilians Adelmo Folha and Matheus Dultra in straight sets (21-17, 21-19).

Getting a head start in Pool C were Brazilians George and Saymon Barbosa, who triumphed 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) against Americans Logan Webber and Hagen Smith, and the American Crabb brothers Taylor and Trevor, who swept (21-14, 21-16) Czechs Jakub Sepka and Jiri Sedlak.

In Pool D, the Chilean Grimalt cousins Marco and Esteban dominated Americans Tim Brewster and Ryan Ierna to a two-set (21-13, 21-15) victory, while French Elouan Chouikh-Barbez and Joadel Gardoque upset Italians Alex Ranghieri and Manuel Alfieri to win in straight sets (27-25, 21-13).

Beach Pro Tour Itapema Elite - Match Schedule

The second round of pool play matches for the men will be held on Thursday. The Round of 18 will follow on Friday, while the Round of 12 and the quarterfinals are scheduled for Saturday and the semifinals and medal matches end the event on Sunday.

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