The Grimalts took a flight from Peru’s capital to Austria’s capital just a few hours after they claimed their country's first-ever beach volleyball medal.

And only 15 hours after their plane landed, they posted a 21-19, 12-21, 15-12 victory over Lupo and Nicolai, the Olympic runners-up at Rio 2016, on the opening day of the men's main draw at the Beach Volleyball Major Series event on Danube Island.

"It was a long way here and we barely arrived on time for the technical meeting, but to start the tournament here beating the Olympic silver medallists, it makes us feel it was all worth it," Marco Grimalt said.

"Our bodies are very tired, but our minds are very strong and confident, and that’s what made the difference for us. 

"We had rough moments in the match, but our minds were exactly where they should be and that was crucial for us to get this win."

Later in the day, the Grimalts went onto defeat Brazil's Andre Loyola Stein and George Souto Maior Wanderley 21-18, 21-17 to ensure top spot in Pool G.

They have consequently received a bye through to tomorrow's second knockout round, while Lupo and Nicolai and Loyola Stein and Souto Maior Wanderley will have to come through the first.

Both pairings overcame Canada's Ben Saxton and Grant O'Gorman, with the Italians winning 21-18, 20-22, 24-22 and the Brazilians triumphing 21-14, 21-16.

In the women's event, defending champions Barbora Hermannová and Marketa Slukova were among the eight pairs who won elimination matches today to advance to the round of 16.

Seeded 22nd, the Czech duo registered a 21-19, 21-16 victory over 15th-seeds Karla Borger and Julia Sude of Germany.

They are now set to go onto face top-seeded Americans Alexandra Klineman and April Ross, who received a bye through to the second knockout round as the winners of Pool A, tomorrow.

"It was a good match for us," Hermannová said. 

"The Germans were coming off their best finish this past weekend in Tokyo where they placed fourth. 

"It's good we only played one match today, so we'll have extra time to prepare for the Americans Friday morning."

The winner of the match between the Czechs and the Americans are due to meet either China's Fan Wang and Xinyi Xia or Brazil's Talita Da Rocha Antunes and Taiana Lima in the quarter-finals, also scheduled to be held tomorrow.

Wang and Xia were among the seven other teams claiming elimination victories today along with the likes of Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda Santos Lisboa, Austria’s Lena Plesiutschnig and Katharina Schützenhöfer, and the United States' Kelley Larsen and Emily Stockman.

Also advancing to the round of 16 were The Netherlands’ Joy Stubbe and Marleen Ramond-van Iersel, Germany’s Margareta Kozuch and Laura Ludwig, and Poland’s Katarzyna Kociolek and Kinga Wojtasik.