Defending champions Petr Bakhnar / Valeriy Samoday of Russia are on track at the third Sofia Open of the 2021 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, after breezing through pool play to gain a direct spot in the quarterfinals of the men's one-star event, Friday.
The number one seeds of the Main Draw at Sofia 3 defeated Bulgaria's Dimitar Kalchev / Ivan Latunov 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) in their first match. They were later challenged by Austria's Florian Schnetzer / Lorenz Petutschnig in the second set, but managed to close that match also in straight sets 2-0 (21-16, 23-21) to top their pool.
Bakhnar and Samoday were winners of the Sofia 2 Open last month in the Bulgarian capital. Their fellow-Russians Aleksandr Kramarenko / Maksim Hudyakov had won the Sofia 1 tournament in May.
Also directly through to the quarterfinals at Sofia 3 are second-seeded Vladyslav Iemelianchyk / Denys Denysenko of the Ukraine who needed three sets to open their campaign with a win over Bulgaria's Branimir Grozdanov / Konstantin Mitev 2-1 (21-8, 19-21, 15-11) before edging Poland's Mariusz Prudel / Jakub Nowak 2-0 (21-19, 23-21).
But 11th-seeded Jindrich Weiss / Donovan Dzavoronok of the Czech Republic have gained an advantage after their win over third seeds Milos Milic / Lazar Kolaric of Serbia 2-1 (21-14, 21-23, 15-11) for a direct berth in Saturday's quarterfinals.
The Serbian pair are also through to the knocout stage of the tournament, but now have to play an extra match in the 'Round of 12' to make it to the last eight.
The 'Round of 12' matches and quarterfinals are scheduled for Saturday. The semifinals and medals matches are scheduled for Sunday with live streaming on the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) YouTube channel.
The women's tournament of the third Sofia Open will be played next week.
Quick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Sofia 3
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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