Qidong, China, July 4, 2019 – Petr Bakhnar and Yury Bogatov were one of six teams per gender to reach the 2-Star Qidong Open on Thursday.
The tournament runs from July 4-7 and is one of nine FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events in China, with $50,000 on offer to the leading teams.
The Russian duo beat the Swedish pair Ludvig Simonsson and Alexander Hermann 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) in their second World Tour 2-Star event.
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Two Austrian men’s teams reached the main draw, with Peter Eglseer and Florian Schnetzer, and Simon Frühbauer and Felix Friedl both going through.
In the women’s draw China’s Binhong Qu and Jing Wang beat Japan's 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) Asami Shiba and Satono Ishitsubo to take the host nation’s total in the women’s main draw to five.
Mariota Angelopoulou and Daria Gusarova will enjoy bragging rights in Cyprus after they defeated compatriots Erika Zempyla and Zoi Konstantopoulou 2-0 (21-12, 22-20).
