Beach volleyball powerhouse Germany had a flawless performance in the men’s qualifier of the first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite event of the 2025 season, advancing all their four teams to the main draw of the tournament held in Quintana Roo, Mexico, on Wednesday, and claiming half of the eight spots available.

With the 24-team lineup now complete, the main draw at the picturesque Playa del Carmen begins on Thursday, at 9:00 local time (14:00 GMT), and as many as 18 pool play matches will be held during the day.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Quintana Roo Elite live on VBTV

Of the four German teams qualified, the Sagstetter brothers Jonas and Benedikt had to work the hardest to earn their spot in the main draw as they had a close two-set (22-20, 21-18) win over Austrian up-and-comers Tim Berger and Timo Hammarberg in the qualifier. The two will have tough competition in the main draw A as they share Pool A with reigning Olympic champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden, Brazilian Olympians Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci and Italians Samuele Cottafava and Gianluca Dal Corso.

Lukas Pfretzchner and Sven Winter, who took silver at last year’s Guadalajara Challenge event in Mexico, also prevailed in a match of slim margins, downing French Arnaud Gauthier-Rot and Téo Rotar 2-0 (21-18, 21-19). Their first opponents in the main draw, in Pool C, will be reigning world champions Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner of Czechia, Polish Olympians Michal Bryl and Bartosz Łosiak and Brazilians Adrielson dos Santos and Arthur Mariano.

VW Beach Pro Tour Quintana Roo Elite: Match Schedule and Results

Former volleyball player Paul Henning and partner Lui Wüst qualified with a straight-set (21-12, 21-15) victory over Latvians Ardis Bedritis and Arturs Rinkevics and will now compete with reigning European champions Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots of Latvia, Norwegians Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen and the home team of Miguel Sarabia and Jorman Osuna in Pool D.

The fourth qualified German team, Philipp Huster and Maximilian Just didn’t get to complete their first match in Quintana Roo as Czechs Jiri Sedlak and Jakub Sepka were forced to forfeit during the first set due to an injury. They are now part of Pool E, alongside Cuban Olympians Noslen Diaz and Jorge Alayo, the Chilean Grimalt cousins Marco and Esteban and young Swedish Elmer Andersson and Jacob Hölting Nilsson, who also came from the qualifier with a 2-0 (21-10, 21-13) victory over Mexicans Carlos Andres and Ines Lares.

Argentineans upset Americans

Argentineans Bautista Amieva and Maciel Bueno caused the major upset of the qualifier, sending Paris Olympians Miles Evans and Chase Budinger of the United States home with a three-set (21-17, 16-21, 17-15) victory. USA’s Chaim Schalk/James Shaw and Austria’s Christoph Dressler/Philipp Waller claimed the last two spots in the main draw.

In the main draw, the 24 men’s teams were split into six pools of four, where they will compete in a modified pool play format – pool winners will advance directly to the Round of 12, with teams ranked second and third playing in the Round of 18.

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