Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot made a commanding return to international beach volleyball by advancing unbeaten into the Round of 12 at the Beach Pro Tour Elite16 in Saquarema, Brazil. The Dutch pair, absent since December’s Beach Pro Tour Finals, showed no signs of rust as they clinched the top position in Pool C with two strong performances.
They began their campaign with a thrilling comeback win over Canadian team Sam Schachter and Jonathan Pickett (18-21, 21-14, 15-6) and followed it up by defeating Brazilian Olympians Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci in straight sets (21-16, 21-17).
Boermans and De Groot were one of six teams to bypass the Round of 18, securing immediate passage to the Round of 12. These elite pool-topping teams included:
- Anders Mol / Christian Sørum (Norway)
- David Åhman / Jonatan Hellvig (Sweden)
- Nicolas Capogrosso / Tomas Capogrosso (Argentina)
- Noslen Diaz / Jorge Alayo (Cuba)
- Sven Winter / Lukas Pfretzschner (Germany)
In particular:
- Mol and Sørum, the reigning Olympic champions, achieved straight-set victories in Pool A over Brazilian and Chilean teams.
- Sweden’s Åhman and Hellvig stood out in Pool B with excellent coordination and tempo.
- The Argentine Capogrosso brothers continued their dominant early-season form atop Pool D.
- Cuba’s Diaz and Alayo narrowly overtook Poland’s team of Bryl and Łosiak in Pool E.
- German qualifiers Winter and Pfretzschner surprised the field in Pool F with victories over higher-ranked pairs.
The Elite16 event resumes on Friday with final pool play matches in the morning and the Round of 18 in the afternoon. Boermans and De Groot will take to the sand again on Saturday when the Round of 12 begins.
For the full schedule and results, visit the official Beach Pro Tour page on Volleyball World.
