A new team in the 2025 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour season, Swiss Tanja Hüberli and Leona Kernen displayed nerves of steel on Thursday to secure their second comeback win in the Elite event held in Ostrava, Czechia, and claim a spot in the tournament’s Round of 12.

Besides the Swiss, duos from Ukraine, Austria and Brazil topped their pools at the iconic Lower Vítkovice industrial heritage site on Thursday, also making it to the second round of the elimination phase of the Czech event.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Ostrava Elite live on VBTV

Playing together on the Beach Pro Tour for just the fifth time after they became partners, the 32-year-old Hüberli, a Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, and the 19-year-old Kernen, an U18 and U20 European champion, had started their campaign in Ostrava on Wednesday, with a comeback win over Brazilians Vitória Rodrigues and Hegeile ‘Hegê’ Almeida in Pool C.

On Thursday, the two, who last weekend triumphed in a Futures event in Kernen’s hometown Spiez, again started behind, but showed calm and confidence to come back and beat Americans Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft 2-1 (11-21, 22-20, 15-12) to rank first in the pool.

The second victory in Ostrava earned the Swiss a day off in the tournament as they will only get back to action on Saturday, for the Round of 12.

Vitória and Hegê were the third team in the pool to advance to the elimination rounds after they swept (21-15, 21-19) Dutch Raisa Schoon and Mila Konink and finished third.

Ukrainians keep winning

In Pool A, Ukrainians Anhelina Khmil and Valentyna Davidova won their third-straight match in Ostrava and secured the top spot in the group, advancing directly to the Round of 12. After overcoming the qualifier and winning their first pool match on Wednesday, they downed Italians Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth 2-1 (14-21, 22-20, 17-15) to continue undefeated.

In the other match of the pool, Americans Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher avoided elimination by triumphing 2-0 (21-10, 21-13) against Spanish Tania Moreno and Daniela Álvarez.

In Pool B, the winners were the Austrians Klinger sisters Ronja and Dorina, who upset Germans Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann in two sets (23-21, 21-16) in the decisive match. Americans Kimberly Hildreth and Keegan Van Gunst defeated compatriots Hailey Harward and Molly Phillips in two sets (21-14, 21-10) and finished third, advancing to the Round of 18.

Brazilians Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti finished first in Pool D after they got the better of the Swiss Vergé-Dépré sisters Anouk and Zoé, winning 2-1 (21-16, 15-21, 16-14). The home team of Marketa Svozilova and Marie-Sara Stochlova continues alive after their two-set (21-18, 21-17) victory over Americans Xolani Hodel and Deahna Kraft.

The two other pools had the first two matches played on Thursday and will be decided on Friday. The Pool E final will have Brazilians Thamela Coradelo and Victoria Lopes, who overcame Americans Julia Scoles and Lexy Denaburg 2-1 (16-21, 21-17, 21-19), and Latvian Olympians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova, who topped Paraguayans Michelle Valiente and Giuliana Poletti in straight sets (21-15, 21-14).

In Pool F, the candidates to claim the direct spot in the Round of 12 are Americans Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw, who started their campaign with a 2-0 (21-12, 21-14) victory over Italians Claudia Scampoli and Giada Bianchi, and Canadian Olympic medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, who triumphed 2-0 (21-10, 21-18) over Germans Sandra Ittlinger and Anna-Lena Grüne.

Beach Pro Tour Ostrava Elite – Match Schedule and Results

On Friday, besides the conclusion of pool play, the schedule also features the six Round of 18 matches. The tournament continues on Saturday with the Round of 12 and the quarterfinals and comes to an end on Sunday, when the semifinals and medal matches will be held.

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