Straight-forward success for top dogs in China

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Swatch Beach Volleyball World Tour Finalists Lucena/Dalhausser (picture) have also enjoyed stress-free progress so far at the Fuzhou Open. Photo credit: Andreas Langreiter.

It was seventh heaven in the men’s tournament at the Fuzhou Open as all the fancied favorites flew effortlessly through to round two.

The opposition didn’t stand a chance in the pool stages as each and every one of the top seven seeds sailed to three wins out of three to secure a place in the second knockout round.

However, there’s one team you might not recognize in the hat for a shot at the quarter-finals: Russian qualifiers Nikita Liamin and Dmitri Barsouk. The 24th seeds stormed to glory in Pool H securing six points and taking some notable scalps along the way.

Their flawless performance on the sand meant a dramatic end to the tournament for home faves Li Zhouxin/Jian Li (CHN) but 2014 winners Pablo Nicolai and Adrian Lupo (ITA) overcame their defeat to the Russian outsiders and rallied to finish second in the pool. They now face a tricky tie against Norwegian qualifiers Svein Solhaug and Daniel Bergerud in the first knockout round.

In the pick of the other first round match-ups, last year’s runners-up from France, Youssef Krou and Edouard Rowlandson, take on South Americans Jesus Fañe and Jackson Henriquez (VEN), while 10th seed Canadian duo Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter face a battle with Swiss pair Nico Beeler and Alexei Strasser.

The first round action kicks-off on Friday on what promises to be an exciting penultimate day’s action which also includes the second round and quarter-finals.

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