The 2025 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour's Elite16 event in Joao Pessoa began with a dramatic upset as Portugal’s Joao Pedrosa and Hugo Campos triumphed over beach volleyball heavyweights Anders Mol and Christian Sorum. The Portuguese pair, playing their second match of the day after advancing through qualifiers, shocked the top-seeded Norwegians with a 2-1 victory (21-19, 16-21, 17-15).
This early win marks a major moment for Pedrosa and Campos, signaling to competitors that even the tour’s elite are vulnerable. Meanwhile, Mol and Sorum, who boast Olympic medals from both Tokyo and Paris, now face a do-or-die clash against Switzerland’s Marco Krattiger and Leo Dillier to stay in contention.
In other Pool A developments, the Portuguese duo is set to face the American team of Miles Evans and Chase Budinger for the top spot and a direct path into the round of 12.
Qualifiers Make Strong Impressions
Several teams that made it through qualifiers carried their form into the main draw with impressive performances:
- Germany’s Lukas Pfretzschner and Sven Winter won both of their matches, including a comeback win against Brazil’s Evandro Oliveira and Arthur Mariano Lanci.
- Austria’s Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger claimed a straight-set victory over Latvia’s seventh seeds, Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots.
High-Level Play Across All Pools
The competitive intensity continued across Pools B, C, and D, where matches remained incredibly tight. Highlights included:
- Sweden’s Olympic champions David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig overcoming French qualifiers in a hard-fought three-set thriller.
- Smooth victories from Argentina, the Netherlands, and Poland, showcasing deep strength in the field.
With the knockout stages looming, Thursday's matches are critical in determining final pool standings and future matchups. Each game brings teams closer to securing valuable ranking points and improving their qualification chances for upcoming major events.
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