Jefferson Santos Pereira and Cherif Younousse reached the main draw in Poland ©FIVB

Jefferson Santos Pereira and Cherif Younousse of Qatar earned their place in the International Volleyball Federation Olsztyn Open main draw in Poland.

The pair combined to good effect to overcome the challenge of the tricky Latvian pairing of Toms Smedins and Aleksandrs Solovejs in the city of Olsztyn.

Having won the opening set 21-18, the Qatari pair were pegged back when Smedins and Solovejs won the second 21-12.

A closely fought deciding set was eventually won 15-13 by the top seeds, with Pereira and Younousse heading into the 48-team men’s main draw.

They will be joined by Australia’s Christopher McHugh and Damien Schumann.

The second seeds in qualifying enjoyed a straight sets victory.

McHugh and Schumann triumphed 21-15, 21-18 against Ukraine’s Sergiy Popov and Oleksii Denin in their tie.

Australia’s Christopher McHugh and Damien Schumann were among the winners in qualifying ©FIVB
Australia’s Christopher McHugh and Damien Schumann were among the winners in qualifying ©FIVB

Germany’s Markus Bockermann and Lars Fluggen progressed by beating New Zealand’s Michael Watson and Sam O'Dea 21-12, 21-12.

The men’s main draw is due to begin tomorrow.

The women’s field will play two modified rounds of pool play.

The Beach Volleyball World Tour event is taking place a week before the International Volleyball Federation World Beach Championships in Austria.

Competition in Vienna is due to be held from July 28 until August 6.