Beach Pro Tour Futures Bridlington day two round-up - Bialokoz and Batrane star in clinching quarters spot

England have enjoyed the benefit of being able to field four pairings in each of the men's and women's mains draws on Belvedere Beach – although Kirsty Star and Katie Keefe were forced to pull out of the women's draw because of an injury to the latter. 

But, on the whole, and despite plenty of effort, they found it hard to mix it with the top-quality opposition on show from around the globe in what is a maiden World Tour event on UK shores. 

That is not altogether surprising, given the fact that a number of young pairings were given the chance to gain a valuable insight into what it takes to perform at the highest level. 

Even so, hope springs eternal for all those pairs – and from all nations – who lost their first matches, as they get another chance to earn a Round of 12 spot tomorrow morning (Saturday). 

The teams who won their first matches, however, played twice during the day meaning that four quarter-finalists in both the men's and women's, as well as four Round of 12 teams in each gender, have already been set. 

Men's competition 

There were, however, notable exceptions to England's struggles, not least number one seeds Bialokoz and Batrane, who, in the absence of Javier and Joaquin Bello, were England's top-ranked pair on show in terms of world ranking. 

After the early rain, the clouds parted for the rest of a beautiful day and the London-based pair made hay while the sun shone in Pool A, wrapping up a 21-12, 21-15 over Swiss qualifiers Tim Amrein and Nathan Broch for a result that was rarely in doubt. 

They then sealed their place in the last eight with another straight sets win, always managing to keep at arms length the Austrian pair of Michael Klemen and Elias Holzinger (21-14, 21-18), much to the delight of the home crowd. 

Bello and Gleed also put their previous Beach Pro Tour experience to good use to fight back from a set down to beat Norway's Marius Pande and Magnus Helgerud 2-1 (19-21, 21-16, 15-13) in Pool B - the same team they had beaten in the semi-finals of NEVZA Beach England earlier this week. 

But they could not find the same spark against Polish number two seeds Jakub Krzeminski and Aleksander Czachorowski, who started slowly against the home favourites but got stronger and stronger as the match went on. 

The Poles eventually ran out 21-17, 21-13 victors, having early extinguished Scottish hopes of claiming an automatic quarter-final place by getting the better of Seain Cook and Euan Fraser - the latter who plays in the Volleyball England Super League for Essex Rebels – by exactly the same margin. 

Aside from the England-Norway game, the only other men's match to go the distance was in Pool C, where Germans Jonas Reinhardt and Robin Sowa battled past Austrians Felix Friedl and Florian Schnetzer to finish the day with two wins from two (21-13, 17-21, 15-12). 

They had already accounted for Czechia's Tomas Pala and Ondrej Sotola with relative comfort (21-15, 21-7), while the Austrians had inflicted an opening defeat on England's Harry Jones and Peter Soczewka (21-19, 21-12) after contrasting sets. 

Canadian number five seeds Luke de Greeff and Tynan Gannett put on an impressive day's performance in Pool D to show they could well challenge strongly come the medal matches. 

After seeing off the challenge of Casper Willems and Arne Darras of Belgium in straight sets (21-16, 23-21), they sealed a statement victory over the number four seeds, Nathan Matos and Pablo Pérez of Spain, running away with the second set in the lengthening shadows (21-16, 21-11). 

Women's competition 

It was a great day for French duo Saofé Duval and Marilu Pally in Pool A, who made light of the wet start first on court to defeat Cathrine Hjeltnes and Molina Mol in three extremely close sets, bouncing back after dropping the first (19-21, 21-15, 20-18). 

Their reward was a crack at Hungarian number one seeds Lilla Villám and Stefánia Flóra Kun – who had warmed up by sweeping aside English 16-year-olds Robyn Clifford and Tilly Hutton (21-5, 21-14) - and it was an opportunity they took with both hands. 

Playing some excellent, consistent beach volleyball, they edged a crucial first set and then were able to add the second in more convincing fashion (21-18, 21-14). 

In Pool B, Lauren Thorn, 16, and Molly Quinn, 17, showed a further glimpse of England's future as they had their moments against Germany's Elea Beutel and Paula Schürholz before going down 21-13, 21-10. 

But the victors were unable to keep that momentum going when they faced experienced Slovakians Barbora Tokosova and Martina Terenova, with the Eastern Europeans securing a 21-19, 21-17 success and, with it, a place in the quarter-finals. 

Joining them in the Last 8 were another French pair and number three seeds Romane Sobezalz and Anouk Dupin, who proved to be the class act of Pool C. 

They were rarely tested in conceding no more than 12 points in any set, first overcoming England's Martha Bullen and Ella Watson (21-8, 21-12) and then getting the better of Belgium's Youna Coens and Jade van Deun (21-10, 21-12). 

Pool D proved to be the tightest of the day on the women's side, with the teams extremely closely matched. 

It began with a hugely entertaining match between Japan's Miharu Kashihara and Aimi Oba - who had been so impressive in qualifying - and England's Alice Jagieska and Isabelle Tucker that the former won narrowly. 

Having clinched the first set 21-19, they then fought back from set point down to take an extended second 23-21. 

But the other Japanese in the pool, Harumi Sakai and Shion Tsubouchi were not so successful as they came out on the wrong end of a 21-16, 21-18 scoreline against the Flamborough Primary School-backed Emma Cudmore and Ofure Odigie, of Canada. 

The clash of the two winning teams was always likely to be a cracker... and so it proved. After trading sets, Miharu Kashihara and Aimi Oba, with their well-placed pokies and superb defence, eventually nicked a victory as the Canadians collapsed into the sand in disappointment, having given it everything (21-14, 16-14). 

Images by Simon Clarke, Rosie Williams and Ewan Cameron

Don't forget you can come down to Belvedere Beach and watch the main draw action for FREE - no ticket required.

If you can't make it, you can also watch the action live on the Volleyball England YouTube Channel.