Canadian pair in imperious form as Xiamen Open knockout stage begins

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Chaim Schalk and Ben Saxton – pictured here at Gstaad Major last year – have been in unstoppable form in China this week.

They say the cream always rises to the top and that’s certainly been the case in China so far this week! The top five seeds in the men’s half of the tournament all made light work of their opponents to cruise emphatically into the second knockout stage of the Xiamen Open.

Despite some crazy Chinese weather this week, pool qualification was a breeze for top seeds Chaim Schalk and Ben Saxton (CAN) who lit up the pool stages by storming to three successive 2-0 wins. Give the others a chance boys!

It was also plain sailing for third seeds Alex Rangieri and Adrian Carambula (ITA) who thundered their way to three pool wins on the spin, while fifth seeds John Hyden and Tri Bourne (USA) shot straight through to the second round with three victories from Pool E.

Last year’s bronze medallists Aleksandrs Samiolovs and Janis Smedins (LAT) are desperate to go one better this year and reach the final – and the second seeds are also showing their credentials in their bid for gold with an impressive three wins out of three.

Fourth seed Russian pair Konstantin Semenov and Viacheslav Krasilnikov also got their name in round two after two wins from three matches – but the same story can’t be said of the sixth seeds Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo (ITA), who lost two pool matches and now face a fight on their hands for a place in the second round.

The Italians join 15 other teams in the first knockout stage which begins on an action-packed Friday that will ultimately decide the semi-final line-up.

With a nervy but exhilarating day of beach volleyball in prospect make sure you follow all the action by keeping an eye on our website and social media channels!