The duo were forced to come through the qualifying rounds in China but upset eighth seeds Li Zhuoxin and Zhou Chaowei of China in straight sets at Haibin Square.

Boehle and Van de Velde claimed a 21-10, 21-18 victory for their third win in a row at the single elimination tournament.

“At the beginning we started pretty strong,” Van de Velde said.

“We had some trouble with the wind, but as well with the opponents.

"Our tactics worked very well in the first set.

"In the second, they started better and we had issues adapting but we found a way and we worked through it.”

Top seeds Dries Koekelkoren and Tom van Walle of Belgium defeated Australian duo Cole Durant and Zachery Schubert 24-22, 20-22, 15-9 to move one step closer to their first medal at a FIVB World Tour event.

Qatari second seeds Santos Pereira Jefferson and Younousse Cherif crashed out of the tournament.

They were beaten by Russia’s Maxim Sivolap and Igor Velichko 21-18, 21-12.

In the women's event, top seeds Wang Fan and Xia Xinyi of China booked their place in the last eight.

They overcame Japanese duo Megumi Murakami and Miki Ishii in straight sets 21-13, 23-21.

Second seeds Summer Ross and Brooke Sweat of the United States and fourth seeds Nicole Branagh and Lauren Fendrick, also Americans, are through to the quarter-finals.

Ross and Sweat defeated Thailand's Varapatsorn Radarong and Tanarattha Udomchavee 21-13, 21-15.

Compatriots Branagh and Fendrick progressed with a 21-19, 21-12 win over Cubans Lidiannis Echeverria Benitez and Leila Consuelo Martinez Ortega.

Poland’s 30th seeds Kinga Kolosinska and Katarzyna Kociolek continued their remarkable run.

Following yesterday's win over American third seeds April Ross and Kelly Claes, they overcame the windy weather to rally past Austria’s Lena Plesiutschnig and Katharina Schützenhöfer 16-21, 21-19, 15-6 to reach the last eight.