In the longest men’s match of the day in Puebla, Czechia’s Vojtech Pavlusek & Vojtech Votava squeezed out a thrilling 2-1 (21-13, 18-21, 16-14) victory over Namibia’s Max Krafft & Jura Krafft. The Africans were actually first to reach match point at 14-13 in the tie-breaker, but the Europeans reacted with three in a row to triumph victorious. In the other Pool B game, Norwegian qualifiers Even Aas & Jonah Utvik hammered out a 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) shutout of Poland’s Szymon Beta & Artem Besarab.
In Pool D, Iran’s AmirAli GhalehNovi & Habib Naseri came back from a set down against Ukrainian qualifiers Dmytro Kozii & Sviatoslav Nahornyi to celebrate a 2-1 (16-21, 21-12, 15-11) victory, while China’s Liu Yuan & Mao Yuan put together a 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) sweep of their game against Argentina’s Marcos Gonzalez & Brais Del Coto.
Italian qualifiers Andrea Sanguanini & Matteo Iurisci came back from losing an epic first set against Hungary’s Bence Tari & Akos Veress to mount a 2-1 (24-26, 21-11, 15-9) win in Pool E. Meanwhile, Australia’s Finley Bennett & James Kay mastered a 2-0 (21-15, 21-17) shutout of Morocco’s Abdellatif Ourhdach & Ilyas Karbal in the same pool.
Another three-setter unfolded in Pool A. Canada’s Louis Charbonneau & Henry Heider coped with the tough resistance of Thailand’s Paphawin Manyahong & Wichaya Wisetkan and registered a 2-1 (21-19, 17-21, 15-10) victory, while home favorites Antonio Lares & Carlos Andres Ayala pleased the sell-out crowd on the stands with an emphatic 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) shutout of the lucky losers from the qualifications Casper Willems & Alexy Humblet of Belgium.
