Andy Benesh and Miles Partain’s first experience at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships continues to go well for the Americans, who became on Sunday one of the first men’s teams to advance to the elimination rounds in Mexico.

With three wins in their three Pool C matches in Tlaxcala, the winners of this year’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite16 finished in first place in the pool and completed the first round of the tournament undefeated.

• Watch the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships live on VBTV.

On Sunday, at the Tlaxcala Bullring, the 28-year-old Benesh and the 21-yer-old Partain trailed for the first time in the event, but raised their game to beat French Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat 2-1 (16-21, 21-15, 15-10) in a rainy match to keep their clean record.

“They were playing really well and I think we just stuck with it,” Benesh told Volleyball World. “Miles and I just trusted each other and tried to solve the puzzle as fast as we could. They’re a difficult team to solve and I’m just proud of how we stuck together and kept fighting.”

Ranked fourth in the FIVB Beach Volleyball Men’s World Rankings, the Americans now focus on the Round of 32, which begins on Wednesday. Besides them, second-placed Norwegians Hendrik Mol and Mathias Bertnsen also secured a spot in the Round of 32, while Venezuelans Peter Hernandez and Hernan Tovar, who are playing under the FIVB flag, were third and need to wait until the end of pool play, on Monday, to find out if they will move directly to the Round of 32 as one of the four best third-placed sides or if they will need to go through a ‘lucky loser’ round.

“We have a couple of days off to rest and recover and are looking forward to competing hard in the playoffs,” Benesh added.

Beach Volleyball World Championships - Match Schedule and Results

Besides Pool C, three other pools also completed their schedules on Sunday. In Pool A, defending champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway advanced in first place, followed by Italians Daniele Lupo and Enrico Rossi – both teams are guaranteed in the Round of 32. Dutch Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot, who were third, wait for the conclusion of pool play to know their faith.

One of the toughest pools in the event, Pool D had a lot of turnarounds on Sunday before ending with Americans Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb in first place and Ukrainians Sergiy Popov and Eduard Reznik in second place. Last-minute entrants Chase Budinger and Miles Evans of the United States finished third and continue in the tournament, while Brazilians Andre Loyola and George Wanderley, who took bronze in the 2022 edition of the event, were knocked out.

Austrians Robin Seidl and Moritz Pristauz were the top team in Pool E and are in the Round of 32 alongside Italians Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri, who were second – Austrians Julian Hörl and Alexander Horst finished third and also remain alive.

Pool play will be completed on Monday, when 16 men’s matches will be played and the remaining eight pools will be set. The ‘lucky loser’ round will be played on Tuesday, ahead of the Round of 32, on Wednesday.

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