Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel picked up two victories today to claim top spot in Pool B at the FIVB Major Series event in Hamburg ©FIVB

Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel picked up two victories today to claim top spot in Pool B at the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Major Series event in Hamburg.

After defeating 15th-seeded Lombardo Ontiveros and Juan Virgen of Mexico 18-21, 21-13, 15-12 yesterday, the 18th seeds opened play today by upsetting second-seeded Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst of The Netherlands, winners of last month’s Moscow Grand Slam, 21-18, 19-21, 17-15 in 50 minutes.

Fijalek and Prudel, the most experienced Polish team in the 30-year history of the FIVB World Tour, followed this up by posting a 21-8, 21-15 win over 31st-seeded qualifiers Lorenz Schumann and Julius Thole of Germany in 32 minutes.

The duo are looking for their third podium finish in four events after placing third last month in Turkish city Antalya and taking bronze at last week’s European Championships in Swiss city Biel-Bienne by winning six of seven matches.

"All the teams in this tournament are playing at a very high level right now as we are eight weeks away from the opening matches in Rio [for the 2016 Olympic Games]," said Prudel.

"Each match is tough and the elimination rounds are very tense.

"We just hope to continue improving with each match leading into the Olympics."

China’s Fan Wang and Yuan Yue have kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
China’s Fan Wang and Yuan Yue have kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games ©FIVB

In the women’s draw, China’s Fan Wang and Yuan Yue bounced back from two Pool F defeats to maintain hopes of qualifying for Rio 2016.

The duo posted a 22-20, 10-21, 16-14 victory over 22nd-seeded Taru Lahti and Riikka Lehtonen of Finland and to ensure their progression to tomorrow’s opening elimination round as the third-ranked team from their pool.

They finished behind sixth-seeded Juliana Felisberta and Taiana Lima of Brazil and 11th-seeded Joana Heidrich and Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland, the two teams they lost against yesterday.

Excluding Brazilians with a maximum of two teams per country, Wang and Yue are currently number 14 on the list of Rio 2016 qualifiers with the top 15 pairs from the FIVB World Tour making the cut.

The Chinese have 4,150 points for their best 12 finishes during the qualifying process, which started in April of last year.

Argentina’s Ana Gallay and Georgina Klug are number 15 on the list with 4,100 points followed by Russia’s Ekaterina Birlova and Evgeniya Ukolova with 3,950 and Vanuatu’s Linline Matauatu and Miller Pata with 3,840.

All four teams will play in the opening elimination round tomorrow with the Russians and Vanuatuans needing a win to keep their Olympic hopes alive via the FIVB World Tour qualifying system.