Featuring eight Olympians and four Olympic medalists, Pool D of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Hamburg Elite 16 could arguably be considered the ‘Pool of Death’ in the women’s tournament and with two of the three rounds completed on Thursday, Lithuanians Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte emerged as the first duo guaranteed in the elimination rounds.

With two victories secured during the first day of the main draw at the Am Rothenbaum Stadium, the Lithuanian qualifiers surprisingly appear in first place in the pool with four points and will now try to remain undefeated on Friday to advance directly to the quarterfinals – this is the first time they managed to advance to the elimination rounds in an Elite16 event.

• Watch Beach Pro Tour Hamburg Elite16 matches live on VBTV

Paulikiene, 29, and Raupelyte, 24, represented their country at the Paris Olympics two weeks ago, when they became the first Lithuanian beach volleyball team to appear at the Games. Coming from a fourth-place finish at the European Championship last week, the two downed Brazilians Ágatha Bednarczuk, a two-time Olympian and a Rio 2016 silver medalist, and Rebecca Cavalcanti, a Tokyo Olympian, 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) to secure their first victory in Hamburg.

A few hours later, the two were faced with two-time Olympians Swiss Joana Mäder and Anouk Vergé-Dépré, who won bronze in Tokyo three years ago, and needed all three sets, but prevailed again, this time 2-1 (22-20, 18-21, 15-13), to confirm their presence in the elimination rounds in Hamburg.

In their third and last pool play match at the Am Rothenbaum, on Friday, the Lithuanians will face a legend in German Laura Ludwig, a five-time Olympian and Rio 2016 Olympic champion, and her partner Louisa Lippmann, who like them, made her Olympic debut in Paris. The Germans lost to both Swiss and Brazilians and, with just two points, need a win to keep their chances of playing in the elimination rounds in what is the last international tournament of Ludwig’s stellar career.

With one win and one loss, Mäder/Vergé-Dépré and Ágatha/Rebecca have three points each, raking second and third in the pool.

Müller and Tillmann dominate Pool A

Pool A also had two rounds of pool play action held on Thursday and top-seeded Germans Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann pleased their fans with solid performances and qualification to the elimination rounds in their first matches after being crowned European champions last Saturday.

In their opening match in Hamburg, the two handled Finnish Taru Lathi and Niina Athiainen in straight sets, producing a 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) victory. They followed that up with another solid performance, beating Puerto Rico’s Maria Gonzalez and Allanis Navas also 2-0 (21-13, 21-8) to take control of the pool, with four points in the standings.

On Friday, the European champions will complete their pool play schedule against the Austrian Klinger sisters Dorina and Ronja, who got a win and a loss on Thursday and are second in the pool with the same three points as the Finnish – the Puerto Ricans are fourth, with two points.

Pool B had just one round on Thursday and Swiss Olympic medalists Nina Brunner and Tanja Hüberli, who topped Dutch Brecht Piersma and Wieks Bekhuis 2-0 (21-9, 21-13), and Brazilians Thamera Coradelo and Victoria Lopes, who overcame Italian Olympians Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi 2-1 (21-19, 16-21, 21-19), started ahead.

Beach Pro Tour Hamburg Elite16 – Match Schedule and Results

The same happened in Pool C, where Dutch Raisa Schoon and Raisa Schoon defeated Italians Reka Orsi Toth and Giada Bianchi 2-1 (23-25, 21-14, 15-9) and Americans Julia Scoles and Betsi Flint topped Brazilians Hegeile ‘Hege’ Almeida and Vitoria Rodrigues also 2-1 (23-25, 21-13,15-13).

Pool play will be completed on Friday in Hamburg, when 12 of the 16 teams that started the tournament will advance to Saturday’s elimination rounds – the four pool winners go directly to the quarterfinals, while the second and third-placed duos in each pool play in the Round of 12. The semifinals and medal matches will be held on Sunday at the Am Rothenbaum.

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