Josh Binstock, Sam Schachter remain in mix for Rio beach volleyball berth

Playing for a gold medal at the Rio Olympics this summer remains a possibility for Canada's Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter.

The beach volleyball partners from Richmond Hill, Ont., picked up the win they needed Thursday to advance to Friday's elimination bracket at the Hamburg Major.

The 20th-seeded Binstock and Schachter earned a 2-0 victory (21-10, 22-20) over the 29th-ranked duo of Georgios Kotsilianos and Nikos Zoupanis from Greece at the Am Rothenbaum tennis stadium in Germany.

Earlier in the day, the Canadians suffered losses of 21-17 and 21-12 to No. 4 Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands.

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Should Binstock and Schachter finish first in Hamburg, they would have 4,810 Rio qualifying points and could overtake German pairs Markus Bockermann and Lars Fluggen and Jonathan Erdmann and Kay Matysik, ranked 14th and 15, respectively, if those teams don't erase the worst of 12 finishes during the qualifying period that ends Sunday.

Each of those teams split their first two games in pool play and will their third and final match at noon ET.

The Rio field is comprised of 24 teams per gender, including the top 15 from each on the Olympic ranking as of June 13, and excluding the Brazilians, who are assured one spot per gender as host country and one per gender as 2015 FIVB world champions.

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Chaim Schalk and Ben Saxton were swept in their two matches on Thursday but had previously secured a top-15 standing for Canada with 4,820 points. They tied Italian brothers Matteo and Paolo Ingrosso for third spot with three points in Pool F – the top three teams in each four-team pool advance to the elimination bracket – but posted a higher points won to lost ratio (0.9764-0.8658).

Final Olympic qualifiers

If Binstock and Schachter fail to clinch a maximum second berth for Rio in Germany, an additional five Olympic spots will come from the winners of the Continental Cup competition within the five FIVB confederations: African, Asian, European, South American and NORCECA, which includes Canada and other countries in North and Central America along with the Caribbean.

Tunisia and Egypt have won the African confederation men's and women's Rio berths, with the other playoffs scheduled for June 22-26.

The two final spots for Rio will come from the Continental Cup Finals from July 6-10 in Sochi, Russia, that will include the second- and third-place finishers from each of the confederations.

Friday's elimination bracket at the Hamburg Major includes two rounds for the men and three for the women, who will play their semifinals and medal matches on Saturday. The men's quarter-finals are also Saturday, with the semifinals and medal contests Sunday.

All three Canadian women's teams have advanced to the elimination bracket. Here are their results from Thursday:

• Canada's Sarah Pavan/Heather Bansley (1st in Pool Pool E) def. Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre (Switzerland) 2-1 (21-19, 17-21, 15-13)
• Larissa Franca Maestrini/Talita Da Rocha Antunes (Brazil) def. Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas (Canada, 3rd in Pool B) 1-0 (21-12, led 10-4 before match called)
• Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes/Taylor Pischke (3rd in Pool H) def. Jennifer Kessy and Emily Day (United States) 2-0 (21-19, 21-14)