Anders Mol and Christian Sørum were pushed hard on Friday, but the Norwegians managed to remain undefeated in the 2023 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Tepic Elite16, their third tournament this year.

The Beach Volley Vikings are one of the eight men’s teams that will be on the court at the Amado Nervo Auditorium on Saturday. The daily schedule in Mexico includes the quarterfinals, which will begin at 15:00 local time (22:00 UTC), and the semifinals, starting at 20:00 local time (03:00 UTC, Sunday).

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Tepic Elite16 live or on demand on VBTV.

The reigning Olympic, world and Beach Pro Tour champions went on the court for their third match in Tepic on Friday and, after topping teams from Qatar and Italy on Thursday, had another Italian team in their way in qualifiers Daniele Lupo and Enrico Rossi. Their opponents pushed hard and were able to take the first set, but the Norwegians came back to win 2-1 (23-25, 21-17, 15-11) and finish first in Pool A, advancing directly to the quarterfinals.

“The key was just to hang in there, I think,” Mol commented. “The deep sand demands a lot from us physically, but our minds remained strong and we were just trying to do our best. We made some good plays at the end and got the win. I’m super happy that we won our pool and advanced to the next round.”

Their fourth comeback in the 2023 season has also kept Mol and Sørum on track. After winning the first two events of the year, the 2022 Beach Pro Tour Finals and the Doha Elite16, the Olympic champions have extended their winning streak in the year to 15 matches.

“Winning the pool makes us skip the Round of 12 tonight and that can be huge,” Sørum agreed. “This way we can rest for a little bit longer and prepare for tomorrow. We’re sure it’s going to be another tough game in the quarterfinals.”

In the quarterfinals, the Beach Volley Vikings will meet Czech Olympians Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner, who overcame Polish Michal Bryl and Bartosz Łosiak in the tie-breaker (12-21, 21-16, 15-10) in the Round of 12.

Beach Pro Tour Tepic Elite16 – Match Schedule & Results

Pool B completed its schedule too and saw a triple tie at the top of the standings between Germany’s Nils Ehlers/Clemens Wickler, Sweden’s David Åhman/Jonatan Hellvig and Czechia’s Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner after the Czechs beat the Germans 2-0 (22-20, 28-26) and the Swedish overcame Americans Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk 2-1 (21-16, 14-21, 15-11).

Ehlers and Wickler had the advantage in the tie-breakers and secured the first place and the automatic spot in the quarterfinals, where they will meet Dutch Olympic medallists Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen, who topped Lupo and Rossi in a two-set (21-14, 21-19) Round of 12 match.

Pool C also didn't have a dominant team, with two duos ending pool play with two wins and another two with only one. The top spot went to Italians Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri after they secured a 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) win over Estonians Kusti Nõlvak and Mart Tiisaar, who finished in second place. The Italian Olympians will play against reigning European champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden, who came from behind to defeat the Chilean cousins Marco and Esteban Grimalt 18-21, 21-15, 15-8 in their Round of 12 duel.

La Paz Challenge silver medallists Stefan Boermans and Yorick De Groot were the ones to emerge on top of Pool D in Tepic. The Dutch confirmed the first place in their pool with a two-set (21-16, 23-21) victory over Bryl and Łosiak. In the quarterfinals, they will play against Italians Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava, who eliminated Nõlvak and Tiisaar in the Round of 12 with a two-set (21-11, 21-16) win.

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