Langkawi, Malaysia, March 12, 2020 - Led by Finland and Japan, six countries posted perfect qualifying records here Thursday to advance to the men's and women's main draw at this fourth annual FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event.
Posting women's qualifying wins Thursday were third-seeded Anna Rantala/Ida Sinisalo and fourth-seeded Katja Metsakoivu/Tuuli Metsakoivu of Finland and the Japanese pairs of top-seeded Reika Murakami/Kaho Sakaguchi and Minori Kumada/Yukako Suzuki
While the women's prevailed as expected in the Langkawi qualifier, only fourth-seeded Alexander Annerstedt/Martin Johansson of Sweden advanced as expected to Friday's pool play schedule.
Posting seed-break-through wins to advance to the men's main draw were sixth-seeded Artur Hajos/Bence Streli of Hungary, seventh-seeded Anton Ermishenkov/Alexey Gusev of Russia and eighth-seeded Liam Kopp/Alexander Russell of Canada.
Following Friday's group action for both men and women where 16 teams will compete in each draw, two rounds of eliminations for both genders will be staged Saturday to set the field for Sunday's medal matches where the winning teams will share the US$1,000 first-place prizes.