As the last leg of matches in Pools A and D of the men’s Olympic beach volleyball tournament took place on Thursday, the thousands on the stands of the Eiffel Tower Stadium enjoyed two high-calibre direct clashes for the second place in each of the pools, guaranteeing direct advancement to the eighthfinals. Italy’s Samuele Cottafava & Paolo Nicolai and USA’s Miles Partain & Andrew Benesh hammered out huge wins over heavy favourites David Ahman & Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden and George Wanderley & Andre Stein of Brazil, respectively, to qualify to the last 16 and leave their mighty opponents in third place, pondering whether they might have to go through the “lucky-loser” round.

Earlier on Thursday morning, Qatar’s Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan mastered a 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) shutout of Australia’s Mark Nicolaidis & Izac Carracher, registering three in three, topping the final standings in Pool A and sending the Aussies home without a win. Cherif was the best scorer of the match with 23 points, including four kill blocks.

So it was down to the world’s number one team, top-seeded Ahman & Hellvig, and 12^th-seeded Cottafava & Nicolai to decide the second place in the pool in a head-to-head duel. After emerging victorious from a hard-fought first set and dominating the second, the Italians celebrated a 2-0 (24-22, 21-17) upset with a 26-point match-high from Nicolai, which included three aces and three kill blocks.

But given the status four-time Olympian and Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist Nicolai has earned in the world of beach volleyball over the years, was this result really a surprise?

“Yes, of course,” 35-year-old Nicolai himself gave the answer to that question, while speaking to the FIVB after the match. “We’ve played them a lot, two times in the last tournament, and we lost both in the third set. We knew that our level was quite good, but not enough for beating them. But now we finally beat them in two at the Olympics. Maybe it’s not easy for them as it is their first Olympics and they come here with a lot of pressure as the number one team, which is heavy on their shoulders. But we are happy, because it means that we are directly into the eighthfinals and that’s what’s important for us.”

For 25-year-old Cottafava, Paris 2024 is also the first Olympics.

“It feels really good. I am really excited!” he exclaimed. “We played at a really good level and, fortunately, we won. That’s the first time this year we beat them, so we are really happy to beat them here at the Olympics. Let’s see what’s next for us in the eighthfinals...”

A similar situation unfolded in Pool D. In the earlier match, 16^th-seeded Cubans Noslen Diaz & Jorge Alayo extended their successful run in Paris and topped the final pool standings undefeated after a 2-0 (21-14, 21-11) sweep of their last pool match against Morocco’s Mohammed Abicha & Zouheir Elgraoui. Alayo led the way with 20 points, including five blocks.

In the deciding match for the second place in the pool, ninth-seeded Partain & Benesh achieved a 2-1 (21-17, 14-21, 15-8) upset of fourth-seeded George & Andre, formerly number one in the world. The two American players shared the top of the scorers’ chart with 18 points each. Benesh’s tally included four stuffs and three aces, while Partain produced two aces and one kill block.

“They are one of the best teams in the world. We needed to bring our A game, the way we want to play,” Benesh told the FIVB. “We were super aggressive. Miles played great. Our mentality was really solid going into the game and we held it throughout the match. So we are super proud of how we came into that match and how we were able to persist with that mindset.”

“We are super grateful to be here. I am really happy to play with Andy. He’s been a great partner and I love all the support he has been able to give and the work he put in,” Partain added. “We are going to recover and just stay as positive as possible throughout the rest of the tournament, train as hard as we can, keep thinking, scouting, watching film and playing to our strengths... And enjoying it!”

The second leg of matches in the men’s Pool C was also played on Thursday. Third-seeded Germans Nils Ehlers & Clemens Wickler persevered through a tough three-setter against 15^th-seeded Thomas Hodges & Zachery Schubert and had to deny six opponent match points in the tie-breaker before celebrating their second win in Paris. Ehlers raised six kill blocks towards the nail-biting 2-1 (16-21, 21-18, 19-17) comeback to finish with a match-high 31 points. In the last men’s match of the day, Poland’s Michal Bryl & Bartosz Losiak, seeded 10^th, disappointed the home crowd on the stands with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) victory over France’s Remi Bassereau & Julien Lyneel, seeded 22^nd. Losiak led the scorers with 17 points, including two aces.

This way, both Ehlers & Wickler and Bryl & Losiak, on 2-0 each, secured eighthfinal spots and will go head to head for the first place in the pool on Saturday. Right after them, winless Hodges & Schubert and Bassereau & Lyneel will battle to survive in the competition as the third-placed team.

Olympic Games Paris 2024 Beach Volleyball: schedule and results

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