Espinho, Portugal, July 29, 2017 - Even though the weather's not been very inviting for a visit to the beach, and despite no Portuguese teams remaining in contention, the Espinho locals showed that they appreciate good volleyball, and filled the stands at Praia da Baia for the tight match between Brazil's George Wanderley / Vitor Felipe and Germany's Lorenz Schuermann / Julius Thole that saw the South Americans advance to Sunday's semifinals after a 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) win.
But it was Belarus' Aliaksandr Kavalenka / Alaksandr Dziadkou who had earlier created the sensation of the day by defeating tournament favourites Maciej Rudol / Jakub Szalankiewicz of Poland 2-1 (18-21, 30-28, 15-13) in 58 minutes - before they themselves were knocked out by Qatar's Julio do Nascimento / Ahmed Tijan 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) in the quarterfinals.
Quick links - Beach volleyball:FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - EspinhoFIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Vienna 2017FIVB.com - Beach VolleyballLatest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia GuidesNorway's Anders Berntsen Mol / Mathias Berntsen, U22 European Championship vice champions and second seeds at the Espinho Open, continued to demonstrate their class, defeating in their path to the semifinals Finns Pekka Piipo / Jyrki Numinem 2-0 (21-14, 21-16).
Mol / Berntsen will face George / Vitor Felipe while the other Norwegian team in the competition Christian Sorum / Svein Solhaug will play Julio / Ahmed in the semifinals.