Todd Rogers and new partner Ryan Doherty advanced out of pool play in their first FIVB beach volleyball world tour event in Fuzhou, China on Wednesday.
Rogers and the 7-foot-1 Doherty went 2-1 in pool play and qualified as the No. 2 team from their pool. Their lone loss came against the experienced duo of Gzegorz Fijalek-Mariusz Prudel of Poland (21-19, 21-19). They defeated Andreas Horren-Geir Eithun of Norway (21-18, 16-21, 15-11) and outlasted Konstantin Semenov-Yaroslav Koshkarev of Russia (21-17, 18-21, 18-16).
Rogers-Doherty drew Alexander Huber-Robin Seidl of Austria in the first round of the main draw. If they win, they would face fellow Americans Casey Patterson and Jake Gibb.
Phil Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal went 3-0 in pool play and were made the top seeds for the main draw.
