Round of 32 Decided; Top Seed Filho/Saymon Fall on Day 6

2017 FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – VIENNA

• July 28 to August 6
• Vienna Centre Court, Vienna, Austria
• Co-ed
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The upset of the tournament thus far came in Wednesday’s Pool A finale as top seeded Alvaro Filho and Saymon Barbosa were edged by Cuba’s Sergio Gonzalez and Nivaldo Diaz in three sets. The win gave the Cubans the pool title and also marked just the second time in Beach Worlds history a No. 1 seed had fallen in the preliminary rounds.

“(It) started out good, but then the Cubans changed their tactics and it worked,” Alvaro said. “The new round of the tournament starts tomorrow, so we’re just thinking about that. We wanted to win this match for sure, nobody wants to lose. But we know that tomorrow starts a new type of competition. They are two guys who play very well, and have played together for a long time. They have good serves, just like all Cubans, and aggressive attacks. Their attacks work more than others’ so that’s why they won.”

The remaining four top 12 seeds held serve, as Americans Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, Brazilians Alison Cerutti and Bruno Schmidt and Brazilians Pedro Solberg and Gustavo “Guto” Carvalhaes won to clinch the top spot in their respective pools, C, E and H.

Alison/Bruno did not drop a single set en route to their 3-0 mark, while Dalhausser/Lucena put up four blocks and outserved their Polish foes 3-1 in a straight-set win.

Top 12 Results

Sergio Gonzalez/Nivaldo Diaz (Cuba) def. #1 Alvaro Filho/Saymon Barbosa (Brazil) 17-21, 21-15, 15-10

#3 Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (USA) def. Mariusz Prudel/Kacper Kujawiak (Poland) 21-12, 21-19

#5 Alison Cerutti/Bruno Schmidt (Brazil) def. Esteban Grimalt/Marco Grimalt (Chile) 21-14, 21-13

#8 Pedro Solberg/Gustavo “Guto” Carvalhaes (Brazil) def. Theo Brunner/Casey Patterson (USA) 16-21, 21-17, 15-7

Americans Ryan Doherty and John Hyden claimed the No. 2 spot in Group C and a Round of 32 berth with a straight set drubbing of Andy Leonardo/Luis Garcia of Guatemala. It took the duo just 22 minutes to sew up the 21-7, 21-11 win.

Americans Theo Brunner and Casey Patterson fell victim to Pedro Solberg/Guto after taking the opening set, but will still move on after securing the second place spot in Pool H with a 2-1 record.