Elite16 - Rio de Janeiro, BRA - 2025

Czech wild cards upset Joao Pessoa runners-up in Rio men’s qualifiers

Eight teams from eight different countries qualify for the main draw

Published 04:00, 24 Sept 2025

Bassereau/Aye, C. (FRA) vs. Trousil/Sedlak (CZE) - Round 1 #60692969

Eight teams from eight different countries – Austria, Brazil, Chile, Czechia, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands and Norway – made it successfully through the men’s qualifications to the 24-team main draw at the Rio de Janeiro Elite on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour on Wednesday. The single round of qualifiers offered some stunning upsets.

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Czech wild cards Tadeas Trousil & Jiri Sedlak, seeded 16^th in the 16-team qualification bracket, surprised top-seeded Remi Bassereau & Calvin Aye of France, who earned silver at the Joao Pessoa Elite just three days ago, and knocked them out of contention with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-16) sweep. Sedlak led the way with seven kill blocks and three aces towards an impressive match high of 24 points.

Penninga/Immers (NED) vs. Pedrosa/Campos (POR) - Round 1 #60711571

Penninga & Immers celebrate their victory over Pedrosa & Campos

Another duo that left a mark in Joao Pessoa last week, Joao Pedrosa & Hugo Campos, who upset none other than the almighty Norwegians Anders Mol & Christian Sorum, were now upset themselves and failed to make it past the qualifiers. In the most interesting match on Wednesday, the sixth-seeded Portuguese pair conceded a nail-biting 2-1 (19-21, 22-20, 19-17) defeat at the hands of 11^th-seeded Ruben Penninga & Matthew Immers of the Netherlands. Penninga raised five kill blocks towards a match-high 31 points.

Last year’s Rio de Janeiro Elite16 winners Joaquin Bello & Javier Bello of England also suffered a setback in the qualifiers and failed to make it to the main draw. In another game that was pushed to the overtime of a tie-breaker, Brazil’s George Wanderley & Saymon Barbosa beat them by a tight 2-1 (21-18, 19-21, 16-14).

George/Saymon vs. Bello, Ja./Bello, Jo. - Match Highlights, 09/24/2025

Meanwhile, 13^th-seeded Vicente Droguett & Fernando Quintero of Chile produced a hard-fought 2-1 (21-23, 21-17, 15-11) upset of fourth-seeded Lukas Pfretzschner & Sven Winter of Germany.

The qualifiers offered one more game that was decided after three sets. Second-seeded Timo Hammarberg & Tim Berger of Austria lived up to their ranking and advanced to the main draw, but had to find their way back from a set down against 15^th-seeded Brazilian wild cards Adelmo Folha & Mateus Dultra to celebrate a 2-1 (19-21, 21-12, 15-6) victory.

Adelmo/Mateus vs. Hammarberg/Berger T. - Match Highlights, 09/24/2025

In another two matches, the lower seeds knocked out their opponents in straight sets. 10^th-seeded Germans Jonas Sagstetter & Benedikt Sagstetter claimed a 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) victory over seventh-seeded Brazilians Vinicius Freitas & Heitor Barbosa, while ninth-seeded Israelis Eylon Elazar & Kevin Cuzmiciov took a 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) victory over eighth-seeded Adrian Heidrich & Jonathan Jordan of Switzerland.

In a high-profile encounter between third-seeded Mathias Berntsen & Hendrik Mol and three-time Olympians Marco Grimalt & Esteban Grimalt, the Norwegians emerged with a narrow 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) win over the Chileans.