Stare Jablonki, Poland, August 3, 2010 - With two of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour's top teams in the Qualification Tournament for this week's US$600,000 Mazury Orlen Grand Slam, tandems from Germany and Italy posted a pair of upset wins each here Tuesday to advance from an international Beach Volleyball Qualification Tournament to a Main Draw for the first-time together.

The pairs of 21st-seeded Jana Kohler/Julia Sude of Germany and 25th-seeded Elisa Cella/Valeria Rosso of Italy advanced from the 30-team Mazury Orlen Grand Slam qualifier to Wednesday's opening pool play matches in the sixth of six "major" events on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar.

Kohler and Sude were playing for the second-straight day on the Hotel Anders courts as the Germans had to win a Country Quota playoff match Monday to advance to Tuesday's competition where they ousted 12th-seeded Vilde Solvoll/Ingrid Torlen of Norway (21-11, 22-20, 39 minutes) and fifth-seeded Maria Bratkova/Evgenia Ukolova of Russia (Won 19-21, 21-15, 23-21, 58). It was the third-time this season that Kohler and Sude have been successful on back-to-back days to advance to the Main Draw at a SWATCH stop.

After opening with a 21-16 and 21-13 win in 37 minutes over eighth-seeded Geeske Banck and Anja Gunther of Germany, Cella and Rosso advanced to the "money" rounds in the 10th of 15 women's event on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour schedule in 2010 with a 21-19 and 21-15 victory in 46 minutes over ninth-seeded Ying Huang and Yuan Yue of China.

Cella and Rosso, who had lost five of their previous seven FIVB qualifying matches this season, started the season with a "wild card" berth in the Italian Grand Slam stop in Rome where the pair lost three pool play matches. Since then, Cella and Rosso have placed 13th and seventh in two European Challenger/Satellite events in Romania and Bulgaria, respectively.

The teams of Jen Kessy/April Ross (No. 3 on the FIVB point's list) and Angie Akers/Tyra Turner (No. 11) filled the top two spots in the Mazury Orlen Grand Slam qualifier as both American pairs won their only matches Tuesday over pairs from Switzerland and China, respectively. Both Kessy/Ross and Akers/Turner entered this week's event late and had to play in qualifier to earn a Main Draw berth.

Like Kohler and Sude as Country Quota winners Monday, third-seeded Brazilians Vanilda Leao and Angela Vieira also won two matches Tuesday with wins over teams from Poland and Australia. On Monday, Leao and Vieira eliminated compatriots Vivian Cunha and Taiana Lima, who lost last week's Austrian Grand Slam finale to Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca.

Other qualifiers Tuesday were fourth-seeded Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer of Austria, sixth-seeded Liesbeth Mouha/Liesbet Van Breedam of Belgium and seventh-seeded Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez Steiner of Spain. Bawden and Palmer also qualified for the 2009 Hotel Anders Main Draw where they lost to Juliana and Larissa in the gold medal match. Turner earned also a silver medal at the inaugural Stare Jablonki event in 2008 with Rachel Wacholder.

Poland will have three teams playing in Wednesday's opening Main Draw rounds, including Katarzyna Urban/Joanna Wiatr, Karolina Sowala/Monika Brzostek and Beata Galek/Kinga Kolosinska. Urban and Wiatr have placed 25th and 17th in their first two starts in Stare Jablonki with Sowala and Brzostek posting a pair of 25ths together.

The third visit for the women to the Hotel Anders court concludes on Saturday with the "final four" matches with the seventh annual men's event ending Sunday as the winning teams for both genders will share the $43,500 first-place prizes. The men's qualifier will be Wednesday with the Main Draw beginning Thursday.