Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway won their opening contest today in Rome ©Getty Images

Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway, the men's gold medallists from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, started off their campaign well today in Rome with an opening victory at the Beach Volleyball World Championships.

They defeated Davide Benzi and Carlo Bonifazi of Italy 21-11, 21-10.

The pair claimed bronze at the 2019 World Championships.

Brazilian world number ones Andre Loyola and George Wanderley needed three sets again to win their second match of the tournament.

This time it was a 22-20, 21-23, 15-11 victory over Christoph Dressler and Alexander Huber of Austria.

Australian world number seven pairing Christopher McHugh and Paul Burnett secured the win today too by a 21-15, 21-18 score line against Cubans Moliner Alayo and Amaro Diaz.

Olympic bronze medallists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar, the world number two, won 21-14, 21-15 against Americans Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander.

Barbara Seixas de Freitas and Carolina Solberg Salgado of Brazil were victorious today too ©Getty Images
Barbara Seixas de Freitas and Carolina Solberg Salgado of Brazil were victorious today too ©Getty Images

In the women's competition, Brazilian world number two Barbara Seixas de Freitas and Carolina Solberg Salgado continued their dominance today by beating Colombians Diana Rios and Margarita Guzman 21-6, 21-7.

Olympic bronze medallists Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré of Switzerland went two-for-two with a 21-13, 21-7 win over Moroccans Siad Mahassine and Imane Zeroual.

Dutch world number ones Katja Stam and Raïsa Schoon took their second pool victory today too, winning 21-17, 21-15 over Chile's Maria Francisca Rivas Zapata and Chris Vorpahl Villablanca.

Finally, Brazilians Duda and Ana Patricia registered a 21-13, 17-21, 15-11 win over Austrians Katharina Schützenhöfer and Lena Plesiutschnig.