In what is the fifth of six International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) four-star events offering Olympic ranking points Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner of the Czech Republic beat Nick Lucena and Phil Dalhausser of the United States 21-16, 25-23 and will now face fourth-seeded Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan in the eighthfinals.

The Qatari pair, who won the last of the three Cancun Hub meetings at the last main stop on the tour, had a 21-19, 25-23 first-round victory over Jake Gibb and Taylor Crabb of the United States.

An extended tie-breaker decided the hard-fought battle for the first place in Pool A.

Inspired by the home crowd on the centre court, top-seeded Russians Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy earned a 21-19, 18-21, 16-14 victory over Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb of the United States.

The Americans won their next game, however, and will meet with another home team in the eighthfinals, Konstantin Semenov and Ilya Leshukov, who emerged on top of Pool H after an emphatic 21-7, 21-14 win over Latvia’s Martins Plavins and Edgars Tocs.

Krasilnikov and Stoyanovskiy will next meet Rio 2016 Olympic champions Alison Cerutti and Alvaro Filho of Brazil.

In the Pool D final, Italy’s Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo defeated Cherif and Ahmed in three sets, but had to climb back from a set down on the way to an 18-21, 21-17, 15-12 win.

Their compatriots Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi also came from behind to win against Austria’s Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller with a 20-22, 21-17, 15-13 scoreline.

The Austrians, however, got back on the winning track and will play Nicolai and Lupo next, while Carambula and Rossi will face Lucena and Dalhausser.

Poland’s Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak upset the world’s number one team, Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway, with a 21-16, 21-18 win to top Pool B.

In Pool G, Switzerland’s Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson beat Alison and Alvaro Filho 21-17, 21-19.

In the eighthfinals, Kantor and Losiak will play against Switzerland’s Marco Krattiger and Florian Breer, while Heidrich and Gerson will have to face Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins, who knocked Mol and Sorum out in a first-round three-setter.

These four teams form the part of the bracket that will be the most interesting to follow tomorrow as three of them are currently very near, above or below, the cut-off line in the provisional Olympic ranking.

Christiaan Varenhorst and Steven van de Velde of The Netherlands claimed the direct ticket from Pool C to the eighthfinals thanks to a 21-14, 21-19 win over Russian main draw newcomers Daniil Kuvichka and Anton Kislytsyn.

The Dutchmen will meet Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek and Michal Bryl next for a place in the quarter-finals.