Two Brazilian teams among four unbeaten pairs at FIVB World Tour Finals

Evandro Goncalves hugs Brazilian team-mate Pedro Solberg on a day of two victories for the unbeaten pair ©FIVB

Two male and two female duos remain undefeated after three days of group competition at the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) World Tour Finals in Fort Lauderdale, each closing in on a place in the knock-out rounds.

On the men’s side, Americans Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena have guaranteed themselves a place in the last four after beating Dutch opponents Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst.

Following their superb victory over Brazil’s world champion pairing Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt yesterday, the home stars did not have it all their own way this time around, being pushed to three sets in a bruising 52 minute encounter.

But after recovering from a mid-match wobble, they eventually prevailed 21-9, 20-22, 15-12.

Their semi-final qualification was confirmed when ninth-seeded Canadians Ben Saxton and Ben Chaim Schalk defeated sixth-seeded Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst of Austria 21-16, 22-20.

Brazil showed their strength in depth as Evandro Goncalves and Pedro Solberg enjoyed two victories on day three to stretch their unbeaten record.

First they overcame Dutch fourth seeds Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen 19-21, 21-15, 16-14 before a 21-19, 19-21, 15-10 win in 59 minutes over top-seeded US pair Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson of the United States.

Pedro Solberg and Evandro Goncalves are now one of two male and two female unbeaten pairs ©FIVB

On the women’s side, second-seeds Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca were similarly successful for next year’s Summer Olympic host nation, easing past Germany’s Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude 21-16, 21-19 in their only match of the day.

A win over Canadian duo Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan tomorrow will guarantee them a place in the semi-finals.

But there was German success on another exciting day in Pool A, as Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst overcame yesterday’s giant-killers Lauren Fendrick and April Ross 21-14, 21-18.

The Germans will face Bednarczuk and Seixas of Brazil tomorrow, the world champion pairing who lost to Fendrick and Ross yesterday.

Both competitions consist of two pools of five teams, with the top three from each group advancing to the elimination rounds.

The pool winners earn a “bye” and advance directly to the semi-finals, with the second and third placed teams needing to first win a quarter-final to join them.

Knock-out action will commence tomorrow ahead of finals on Sunday (October 4).

The winning teams in each gender’s competition will share the $100,000 (£66,000/€90,000) first-place purse - the biggest gold medal prize in FIVB World Tour history since the start of the men’s play in 1987 and women's in 1992.