Dalhausser/Lucena win marathon match to march into Olympic men' s beach volleyball top 16

Beijing Olympic gold medallist Phil Dalhausser and his new partner Nick Lucena of the United States claimed a marathon full-set win over Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai of Italy here on Thursday to march into the top 16 of the Rio Games men's beach volleyball tournament.

With their 2-1 (21-13, 17-21, 24-22) win in 60 minutes over Lupo and Nicolai, Dalhausser and Lucena secured the top place in preliminary pool C and maintained their third-seeding for the 16-team elimination bracket where play with be held Friday and Saturday. The win was the American's third in four matches this season between the two teams.

"It's not too often when you can be a part of a game like that. You are in the 20s in the third set. We were just going back and forth. It's pretty fun," said Lucena. "It's always a good feeling when you win, especially a close match like that. I thought it was entertaining for the fans and I think it's good for US."

It's the third Olympic Games for Dalhausser, who had won the gold medal of the 2008 Beijing Games and the ninth place at the London Games four years ago with Todd Rogers.

Italy's Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri, Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands, Cuba's Diaz Gomez/Sergio Gonzalez, Russia's Konstantin Semenov/Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Spain's Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira also advanced to the knockout stage as winners from respective preliminary pools.

In the women's category, medal favorites including Kerri Walsh Jennings/April Ross of the United States, Franca Larissa/Antunes Talita from Brazil and Germany's Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst also sailed into the single elimination round. Endit