Udon Thani, Thailand, June 18, 2019 – Reigning U19 world champions Denis Shekunov and Dmitrii Veretiuk of Russia progressed to the men’s main draw of the FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships with victories in three rounds of qualification at Thung Si Mueang on Tuesday.
The Russian pair dominated against Romania’s Cristian Maier and Sergiu-Octavian Rodina 2-0 (21-13, 21-9) then prevailed with a three-set win against Switzerland’s Jonathan Jordan and Immanuel Zurcher 2-1 (17-21, 21-12, 15-10). In their third match, they managed to close their encounter with the United States’ John Schwengel and Jacob Titus 2-0 (21-19, 21-17).
Austria’s Arwin Kopschar and Paul Pascariuc started their qualification quest in the second round with a 2-0 (23-21, 21-18) win over Australia’s Jarrah Brownhill and Ky Landers then secured their place in the main draw with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) win over England’s Joaquin and Javier Bello.
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FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World ChampionshipsJoining Shekunov/Veretiuk and Kopschar/Pascariuc in the main draw from the qualifiers are two German pairs – Rudy Schneider/Filip John and Lukas Pfretzschner/Robin Sowa – who had similar results in two rounds of play.
Schneider and John prevailed in a tiebreaker against Oman’s Almandhar Al Mezeini and Majid Alshibili in the second round before they clinched the spot in the main draw with a straight-set win against Latvia’s Rinalds Aispurs and Ardis Bedritis.
Pfretzschner and Sowa endured their tie-break encounter with Brazil’s Lyan De Paulo and Gabriel Zuliani, then swept Frantisek Knobloch and Martin Melmuka in the third round.