The three-star Beach World Tour event is a taste of what things could be like at the 2020 Olympics in Japan's capital.

Azusa Futami and Akiko Hasegawa defeated Thailand's Varapatsorn Radarong and Thanarattha Udomchavee to ensure they will play in the round-of-16.

They came through a tense affair 22-20, 20-22, 17-15.

"There were things that did not go well since we started the competition, but we kept a strong mind to win," Futami said. 

"We showed our fighting spirit in this match."

Chiyo Suzuki and Reika Murakami joined their compatriots in going through as they beat Americans Amanda Dowdy and Irene Pollock 21-17, 16-21, 15-13.

Megumi Murakami and Miki Ishii then beat compatriots Yukako Suzuki and Kaho Sakaguchi 19-21, 21-11, 15-5 and Yui Nagata and Minori Kumada saw off Norwegians Viktoria Faye Kjolberg and Ane Guro Tveit Hjortland 22-20, 21-16.

In men's action, Serbia's Stefan Basta and Lazar Kolaric were among those to book their place in the quarter-finals.

They beat Thailand’s Nuttanon Inkiew and Sedtawat Padsawut in straight sets, 21-14, 21-17.

Also going through to the last eight are Austria's Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller, who beat Turkey's Safa Urlu and Hasan Huseyin Mermer 21-12, 21-19.

Americans Casey Patterson and Stafford Slick joined them after a 21-14, 23-21 win over Switzerland's Gabriel Kissling and Michiel Zandbergen.

France's Maxime Thiercy and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat beat China's Gao Peng and Li Yang 21-14, 21-12 to also go through.