Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo began their title defence at the Beach Volleyball European Championships with a victory ©Getty Images

Defending champions Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo began the Beach Volleyball European Championships in confident fashion in The Netherlands.

The Italian pairing began their men’s title defence with a Pool A match against Serbia’s Lazar Kolaric and Stefan Basta in Utrecht, one of four cities hosting the event.

A strong performance saw Nicolai and Lupo clinch a 21-13, 21-16 victory.

The duo have won the tournament in three of the last four year and came into the event having won a bronze medal at the Beach Volleyball Major Series event in Swiss village Gstaad last weekend.

Switzerland’s Nico Beeler and Marco Krattiger were also winners in Pool A today.

The pairing triumphed 21-16, 21-14 against the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner.

Latvia's Aleksandrs Samoilovs and partner Jānis Šmēdiņš earned a three set victory in Pool G ©Getty Images
Latvia's Aleksandrs Samoilovs and partner Jānis Šmēdiņš earned a three set victory in Pool G ©Getty Images

Last year’s silver medallists Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Jānis Šmēdiņš of Latvia started their campaign on a high.

They claimed the opening set of their match 21-13 against Philipp Arne Bergmann and Yannick Harms, only for the Germans to win the second 21-11.

Samoilovs and Šmēdiņš recovered to win the final set 15-12 to begin Pool G with a victory in The Hague.

The Beach Volleyball European Championships is taking place across four cities; The Hague, Apeldoorn, Rotterdam and Utrecht.

Men’s pool competition is due to continue tomorrow, with the women’s tournament also set to get underway.