After struggling in the group stages, the duo turned on the style in the round of 32 clash, winning  21-19, 21-17 against Spaniards Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira.

Their next opponents will be Italians Daniele Lupo and Enrico Rossi, who despatched Cubans Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz 21-16, 21-15.

"It was a very difficult match and I’m glad that we made it in the end because the Spanish are very good players," Perušič told Volleyball World.

"After not having a great start in pool play, I’m happy that we found the game we had showed in Paris and that we were able to perform in the most important match of the event so far. "

Joining Lupo and Rossi are fellow Italians Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri, who got the better of China’s Ha Likejiang and Wu Jiaxin 21-17, 25-23.

American opponents in Andy Benesh and Miles Partain await them after their 21-17, 21-16 win over Poles Piotr Kantor and Jakub Zdybek.

Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb of the United States knocked out Australians Chris McHugh and Paul Burnett 21-15, 21-17 and will meet another Aussie pair in Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert next.

Hodges and Schubert triumphed 21-16, 24-22 against Sam Schachter and Dan Dearing of Canada.

Dutch duo Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot defeated Qatari Olympic medallists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan 21-17, 21-14.

The Netherlands have another pair in the next round thanks to Matthew Immers and Steve van de Velde easing past Ukrainians Sergiy Popov and Eduard Reznik 21-16, 21-13.

It was business as usual for defending champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway, who beat Marco and Esteban Grimalt of Chile 21-12, 21-15.

Italians Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava were too strong for Argentineans Nicolas and Tomas Capogrosso, beating them 21-17, 21-12.

Among women, Brazilians Ágatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti defeated Germans Laura Ludwig and Louisa Lippmann 19-21, 22-20, 15-8.

They will be up against Americans Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, who advanced with a 23-21, 21-12 win over Canadians Sarah Pavan and Molly McBain.

German pair of Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann advanced with a 22-20, 21-16 win against Liliana Fernández and Paula Soria of Spain and will run into Brazilians Tainá Bigi and Victoria Lopes, who eliminated compatriots Bárbara Seixas and Carol Salgado 22-20, 17-21, 16-14).

Americans are having a great tournament as Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft joined others in the round of 16 with their 22-24, 24-22, 15-12 win over Brazilians Andressa Cavalcanti and Vitoria Rodrigues.

The next challenge for them are Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam of the Netherlands, who shocked European Championship silver medallists Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno of Spain 34-32, 23-21.

Italians Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi will face Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho of Australia after defeating Swiss Olympic medallists Joana Mäder and Anouk Vergé-Dépré 22-20, 21-15.

Clancy and Artacho sealed their passage after an easy 21-19, 25-23 win over Germans Karla Borger and Sandra Ittlinger.