The pairing had impressed on route to finishing as the runners-up at the Kish Open last month in Iran but were handed a tricky qualifying tie against Brazil’s Saymon Barbosa and Gustavo Carvalhaes.

Stoyanovskiy and Yarzutkin claimed a hard fought opening set 22-20 against the home favourites, who had earned bronze medals that the two occasions that the FIVB World Tour had taken place in Brazil.

The match continued to be tight, with the Barbosa and Carvalhaes hitting back to secure the second set 23-21 to force a decider.

Ultimately they were unable to complete a comeback victory, as their Russian rivals edged clear to claim the crucial final set 15-10.

“They are a very tough team to play anywhere in the world, so we are very fortunate to defeat them here,” said Stoyanovskiy.

“We made the plays at the end as they missed a sure point at a key time in the third set.”

Their fellow Russians Dmitri Barsouk and Nikita Liamin also booked their places in the main draw by securing a straight sets 22-20, 21-16 win over the United States’ Ryan Doherty and John Mayer.

Poland’s Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak were the top ranked pairing in qualification and they enjoyed smooth progression to the 32-team main draw, cruising past Denmark’s Peter Kildegaard and Kristoffer Abell 21-17, 21-12.

In the women’s competition, Slovakia’s Dominika Nestarcova and Natalia Dubovcova were forced to go through a qualifying draw for the first time in three years.

The duo made light work of their two qualification matches as they recorded a 21-17, 21-11 win over Denmark’s Line Trans Hansen and Helle Søndergård, before beating Poland’s Jagoda Gruszczynska and Dorota Strag 21-12, 21-13.

Unsurprisingly top seeds Eduarda “Duda” Lisboa and Elize Maia also advanced to the women’s main draw, with the Brazilians still on a high from their victory at the Maceió Open in February.

The duo cruised past The Netherlands’ Rimke Braakman and Jolien Sinnema 21-16, 21-10 to seal their spot.