Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes will be fighting for the title in the quarter-finals tomorrow ©Getty Images

World champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada advanced to the quarter-finals of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 event in Rosarito in Mexico.

The Canadians secured victory by a 21-19, 20-22, 15-12 scoreline over Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho, earning revenge against the Australians who eliminated them at last year’s Olympics in Tokyo.

Pavan and Humana-Paredes did not lose their enthusiasm and claimed another victory in two sets 21-18, 22-20 against The Netherlands Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam to finish first with their undefeated campaign of three victories. 

The winners also beat Mexicans Atenas Gutierrez and Maria Quinteros by a scoreline of 21-15, 21-14. 

"I'm glad we're winning,” said Humana-Paredes. 

“We didn't really know what to expect coming into here and playing in our first tournament together this year. 

"There are some really great things happening. 

"This tournament is no joke. 

"Every team is so difficult to play and you need to have your A-Game at all times. 

"It really pushes you and tests you. 

"I'm really happy and proud of the team for pushing and grinding, but I think there's still another level we can reach."

They will now face Americans Kelly Claes and Betsi Flint in the quarter-finals.



It is a remarkable tournament for the Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes as they managed to achieve three victories in Rosarito ©Getty Images
It is a remarkable tournament for the Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes as they managed to achieve three victories in Rosarito ©Getty Images

Clancy and Artacho overcame their loss to the Canadians and ended their participation in the competition with a 21-12, 21-5 victory against Mexicans Atenas Gutierrez and Maria Quintero.

April Ross and Emily Day of United States dominated their compatriots Sara Hughes and Kelley Kolinske in two sets 21-15, 21-12 and returned to the court some hours later to defeat Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil also in two sets 21-13, 21-19.

The Americans are set to encounter Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka in the quarter-finals. 

Hughes and Kolinske defeated the reigning European champions Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli of Switzerland 21-19, 21-17 to finish second and advance to the quarter-finals.

Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa and Ana Patricia Ramos claimed their third victory in the competition, a straight sets 21-11, 21-18 win against Germans Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Muller. 

The Brazilians finished at the top of the pool with six points and will face Schoon and Stam in the quarter-finals.

Latvian Olympians Graudina and Kravcenoka downed Brazilians Barbara Seixas and Carol Salgado in two sets 21-18, 21-18 to win their first match in Rosarito making it to the elimination round.

Coming from the qualifier, Talita Antunes and Rebecca Cavalcanti won their fifth straight match in Rosarito today. 

Antunes and Cavalcanti triumphed against Americans Kelly Claes and Betsi Flint 21-16, 21-18 and took first place in the pool, while their next rivals will be Hughes and Kolinske. 

Meanwhile, the third place in the pool went to Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallists Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland, who finished their participation with a 21-11, 21-11 victory over Brazilian veterans Maria Elisa Antonelli and Fernanda Alves.

Among the men, Poland's Michal Bryl and Bartosz Losiak secured a straight sets 21-16, 25-23 victory over world ranking leaders Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallists rebounded securing a 21-13, 21-16 win against Austrians Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller, thus advancing to the quarter-finals where they will meet Czech Republic's Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner.

"It feels great to make it to the quarter-finals," Cherif said. 

"It’s the first event of the year for most of the teams here and it’s not easy to get our rhythm back. 

"I feel like we haven’t been focused the entire time as we should and at this level, any mistake costs too much.

"We’re adjusting things match by match and now with the quarter-finals coming up, it gets even more serious and we’re going all in."

Bryl and Losiak finished their campaign with a straight sets 21-15, 21-19 victory against Brazilians Evandro Gonçalves and Álvaro Filho. 

The Polish pair will now face Italians Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi. 

Ahmed Tijan and Cherif Younousse of Team Qatar celebrate after defeating Team Latvia during the men's bronze medal match on day fifteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ©Getty Images
Ahmed Tijan and Cherif Younousse of Team Qatar celebrate after defeating Team Latvia during the men's bronze medal match on day fifteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ©Getty Images

Brazilians André Loyola and George Wanderley dominated Pool C to finish first with a three-win campaign after defeating Carambula and Rossi 17-21, 21-16, 15-12 and Americans Theo Brunner and Chaim Schalk also in three sets 10-21, 21-15, 15-12.

The South Americans triumphed against Latvian veterans Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins 24-22, 21-8 yesterday. 

Loyola and Wanderley will clash with reigning Olympic champions Anders Berntsen Mol and Christian Sandlie Sørum of Norway in the quarter-finals.

Tokyo 2020 Olympians Carambula and Rossi advanced in second place after defeating Samoilovs and Smedins 21-19, 17-21, 15-12, while Dutch veterans Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen pulled off a 21-15, 27-29, 15-11 win against Americans Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb.

The Italians are the top-placed team in the pool heading into the quarter-finals and will face Alison Cerutti and Gustavo "Guto" Carvalhaes of Brazil. 

Mol and Sørum started behind, but managed to secure victory over Italians Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava by 20-22, 27-25, 15-7. 

Pool D finished with three teams tying with two wins and a loss and just two moving forward to the quarter-finals in the tie-breakers. 

Perusic and Schweiner were first while Guto finished second, leaving Dutch pair Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot out of the elimination round.

The Czech Republic pair defeated Mexican Olympians José Rubio and Josué Gaxiola in straight sets 21-15, 21-17, while the Dutch pair took the Brazilians Cerutti and Guto down in two sets 21-16, 24-22. 

The quarter-finals and semi-finals are due to be played tomorrow while the medal matches are scheduled for Sunday (March 27).