Vitor Felipe and Alvaro Filho of Brazil sprung the biggest surprise on the opening day of main draw action ©FIVB

Spanish duo Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera’s bid for a successful International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Moscow Grand Slam title defence began with defeat as they lost in straight sets to Vitor Felipe and Alvaro Filho of Brazil today.

The Brazilian pair, who will represent their country on home sand at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, caused the biggest upset on the opening day of main draw action at the Vodny Stadium Beach Sports Centre as they comfortably beat the Spaniards 21-17, 21-19 in Pool E.

Gavira and Herrera are seeded 12th and are expected to progress from the group stage but will now likely have to win their last two matches to reach the knockout phase.

“Beating the Spaniards is important because they are one of the top teams in the world,” Filho said.

“Despite playing only once in the last three weeks, we felt very relaxed and rested in our match today. 

“We have two very tough matches tomorrow, so we have to be ready.”

Top seeds Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt, also of Brazil, enjoyed a winning start as they overcame Rihards Finsters and Edgars Tocs of Latvia 21-17, 21-18.

Elsewhere, Jonathan Erdmann and Kay Matysik of Germany also sprung a surprise as the 19th seeds proved too strong for Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri of Italy, seeded five places higher, with a 21-15, 21-18 Pool C win.

Russian pair Ekaterina Birlova and Evgeniya Ukolova moved closer to an Olympic spot with two victories
Russian pair Ekaterina Birlova and Evgeniya Ukolova moved closer to an Olympic spot with two victories ©FIVB

In the women’s competition, Russian pair Ekaterina Birlova and Evgeniya Ukolova gave the home crowd something to cheer as they picked up two pool victories.

Their successes on day one edged them closer to booking their Rio 2016 spot as they now sit one place outside the World Tour top 15, all of which will earn an Olympic berth, with one qualifying event to go.

Birlova and Ukolova, seeded eighth, began with victory over qualifiers Taru Lahti and Riikka Lehtonen of Finland 21-14, 21-19, before they went on to oust Mariafe Artacho and Nicole Laird of Australia 21-14, 21-11.

“That was a good win for us as the Fins captured a silver medal two weeks ago in Antalya,” said Ukolova.

“We played even better against the young Australians. 

“Now, we have to play at a higher level defeat the more experienced Australians tomorrow. 

“We have never played those Australians on the world tour, so this will be a tough match.”

Pool action in the men’s and women’s tournaments comes to a close tomorrow.