Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner arrived in Mexico for the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships fresh from their victory at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Paris Elite16 the week before, but two losses in their first three matches interrupted any plans the Czechs could have in regards of benefiting from the momentum created with their title in France.

Despite the upsets, the Czech Olympians survived pool play and now look like an entirely different team after they advanced to the Round of 16 in Tlaxcala on Wednesday.

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

Perusic and Schweiner had for sure their best performance in the tournament so far in the Round of 32 and managed to secure a two-set (21-19, 21-17) victory over Spanish veterans Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira to advance another round in Mexico.

“It was a very difficult match and I’m glad that we made it in the end because the Spanish are very good players,” Perusic told Volleyball World. “After not having a great start in pool play, I’m happy that we found the game we had showed in Paris and that we were able to perform in the most important match of the event so far.”

On Thursday, the Czechs will be back on the court to face Italians Daniele Lupo and Enrico Rossi, who right before their match against the Spanish downed Cubans Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz also in two sets (21-16, 21-15).

“We have Italian coaches, so it’s going to be a special match for them,” Perusic added. “We practice together on some occasions and have played each other many times, so we know each other very well. I don’t think there will be any kind of surprises in this match, so it’s going to be more about who’s in the best form tomorrow.”

Beach Volleyball World Championships - Match Schedule and Results

Three other Round of 16 duels were set during the night session in Mexico. Another Italian team, Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri, also advanced, thanks to a 2-0 (21-17, 25-23) win over China’s Ha Likejiang and Wu Jiaxin. They will now face Americans Andy Benesh and Miles Partain, who triumphed over Poles Piotr Kantor and Jakub Zdybek in straight sets (21-17, 21-16).

Another American team, formed by Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb, eliminated an Australian duo and will now face another one from the same country in the Round of 16. They defeated Chris McHugh and Paul Burnett in two sets (21-15, 21-17) on Wednesday and will now meet Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert, who overcame Canadians Sam Schachter and Dan Dearing 2-0 (21-16, 24-22).

The Netherlands will have two teams facing off in the Round of 16 after Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot upset Qatari Olympic medalists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan in two sets (21-17, 21-14) and Matthew Immers and Steve van de Velde knocked out Ukrainians Sergiy Popov and Eduard Reznik with a straight-set (21-16, 21-13) win.

The afternoon session across the four venues in Mexico determined the other four Round of 16 matchups. One of them will have defending champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway, who knocked the Chilean Grimalt cousins out with a two-set (21-12, 21-15) victory, and Italians Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava, who swept (21-17, 21-12) the Argentinean Capogrosso brothers Nicolas and Tomas.

Two-time European champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden also advanced after they dominated Americans Chase Budinger and Miles Evans in straight sets (21-17, 21-15). Their next opponents, the 2013 world champions Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands, were on the verge of elimination in the Round of 32, but came back to beat Chileans Noe Aravena and Vicente Droguett in the tie-breaker (17-21, 23-21, 15-7).

Another all-European duel will reunite Germans Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler, who overcame Austrians Alexander Horst and Julian Hörl in two sets (21-12, 21-17), and Poles Michal Bryl and Bartosz Łosiak, who bested Norwegians Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen in another two-setter (21-18, 21-16).

Another duel between two teams from the same country will involve two Brazilian duos – Pedro Solberg and Gustavo ‘Guto’ Carvalhaes, who came from behind to defeat Austrians Robin Seidl and Moritz Pristauz 2-1 (13-21, 21-15, 15-11), and Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci, who eliminated their compatriots and last year’s silver medalists Vitor Felipe and Renato Lima in two sets (30-28, 21-16).

The eight Round of 16 duels will be held on Thursday, during the afternoon, in Mexico, with Tlaxcala hosting half of the matches and Huamantla and Apizaco welcoming two encounters each.

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