Latvia's Pļaviņš and Fokerots reach semifinal at Hamburg "Elite 16" beach volleyball tournament

Latvian beach volleyball players Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Kristians Fokerots continued their strong run at one of the top events on the Beach Pro Tour (BPT), reaching the semifinal of the "Elite 16" tournament in Hamburg, Germany, on Saturday.

Seeded fifth in the tournament, the Latvian pair beat Brazil's Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci, seeded seventh, in straight sets 21:18, 25:23 in the quarterfinal.

Road to the semifinal

Pļaviņš and Fokerots also had a strong group stage in Pool D, winning all three matches. They beat the American duo Chaim Schalk and James Shaw in straight sets, then defeated the Swiss pair Julian Fridli and Jonathan Jordan, and finally overcame the German team Paul Henning and Lukas Pfretzschner, also in two sets each time. Those results secured first place in the group and a direct berth in the quarterfinal, skipping an additional knockout round.

On Sunday, the Latvians will face either the Swedish pair Jakob Höltling-Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, considered the tournament's top favorites, or the German duo Nils Ehlers and Lui Wüst in the semifinal.

Second Latvian pair and women's event

The other Latvian men's duo, Ardis Bedrītis and Artūrs Rinkevičs, lost in the first round of the knockout stage on Saturday, finishing the tournament tied for ninth place and earning 600 world ranking points.

In the women's tournament, Tīna Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova are also performing well, having won all three of their group matches. On Saturday they received a walkover victory against a Brazilian pair, and on Sunday they will face another Brazilian duo in the semifinal.

Both Latvian pairs have already earned 900 world ranking points each for reaching the semifinal. "Elite 16" is the top category on the BPT ranking, followed by "Challenge" and "Futures" tournaments.