Belgium, Sweden and Italy topped their respective pools, recording their two wins to improve their records to 3-0 in the men’s main draw of the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships in Roi-Et, Thailand, on Thursday.

In the women’s tournament, Finland and Hungary seized the top positions in their groups, adding another win to their two previous victories in the competition.

Their undefeated status secured them early spots in the Round of 24, which will begin in the afternoon of Friday, November 10.

• Watch U21 World Championship action live on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel

Sweden’s Elmer Andersson & Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Italy’s Theo Hanni & Michael Burgmann have swept both their matches during the day in men’s Pools B and C, respectively, while Belgium’s Joppe Van Langendonck & Kyan Vercauteren won their first match in straight sets and the other in three sets in Pool A.

The Swedish pair dominated Lebanon’s El Chabib/Omar 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) and Kazakhstan’s Mastikhin/Kulboldyyev 2-0 (21-11, 21-6), while the Italians beat St, Kitts and Nevis’ Bristol/Clerique 2-0 (21-6, 21-7) and Paraguay’s Angel/Camilo 2-0 (21-19, 21-13).

The Belgians cruised to a 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) win over Thailand’s W.Wichaya/R.Saiphirun, but had to overcome Ukraine’s Savvin/Moiseiev in three sets (21-14, 23-25, 15-11).

There is tough competition in Pool D, with three teams sharing identical win-loss cards, namely Czechia’s Oliva/Westphal, Australia’s Hood/Potts, and Germany’s Wüst/Fröbel.

France’s Canet/Rotar, Austria’s Hammarberg/Berger T. and Poland’s Lejawa/Beta each came up with a win in Pools E, G and H, respectively.

In Pool F, Chile’s Lejawa/Beta and the United States’ Hurst/Basey are tied within their group with two victories apiece.

Meanwhile, Finland’s Sara Sinisalo & Anniina Muukka have kept a steady and stealth pace in the tournament, logging a six-match winning streak that they logged within three days of competition.

The Finnish pair came all the way from qualification, winning all three matches, then conquering tree of their opponents in two days of main draw play.

They share the same win-loss card in the main draw with fellow qualification round rivals Zsófi Vasvári & Stefánia Flóra Kun of Hungary.

Sinisalo, S./Muukka and Vasvári, Z./Kun claimed their respective third wins on Thursday, with 2-0 scorelines. The Finland tandem beat Paraguay’s Sofia/Fio (21-10, 21-15), while the Hungary duo defeated Guam’s Zuñiga/Aguilar (21-10, 21-8).

Teams from Australia, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Paraguay, USA, Poland and Thailand earned their second win on the main draw’s Day 2, while Thailand’s M.Salinda/B.Jidapa and Czech twins Pavelková A./Pavelková K. bagged their second win in three outings along with the Swiss, Dutch and Latvian pairs.

After losing their first match, Canada’s Sorra/Glagau and Ukraine’s Serdiuk/Udovenko got into the win column with straight-set triumphs.

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