Japan's Sayaka Mizoe and Suzuka Hashimoto reached the main draw of the women's event in Moscow ©FIVB

Japan's Sayaka Mizoe and Suzuka Hashimoto reached the main draw of the women's event as action began at the International Volleyball Federation Beach World Tour in Moscow.

Mizoe and Hashimoto won an all-Japanese encounter against Kaho Sakaguchi and Reika Murakami 21-16, 21-14 to get their pursuit of a main draw place off to the best possible start.

The Japanese pair caused an upset in the second match as they progressed by virtue of a 20-22, 21-16, 15-12 victory over Spaniards Paula Soria Gutierrez and Maria Belen Carro Marquez de Acunya.

Both of Varapatsorn Radarong and Khanittha Hongpak's contests went the distance as they battled into the main draw.

Poland’s Maciej Rudol and Jakub Szalankiewicz defied the seedings to reach the main draw of the men's event ©FIVB
Poland’s Maciej Rudol and Jakub Szalankiewicz defied the seedings to reach the main draw of the men's event ©FIVB

Radarong and Hongpak defeated Anastasiia Frolova and Aleksandra Ganenko of Russia 21-23, 21-19, 15-12 before edging out qualification sixth seeds Alexandra Jupiter and Aline Chamereau of France 19-21, 21-18, 15-12.

In the men's qualification tournament, Poland’s Maciej Rudol and Jakub Szalankiewicz defied the seedings with a 21-18, 25-23 triumph over Switzerland's Quentin Metral and Florian Breer.

Russia's Maksim Hudyakov and Ruslan Bykanov beat Wu Jiaxin and Ha Likejiang of China 26-24, 21-17 to delight the home crowd and reach the main draw of the event in the Russian capital for the second year in a row.

Competition continues tomorrow.