After losing an even first set 18–21, Sweden was beaten to win. Hellvig and Åhman then convinced in the second and won 21–15 to take the match to the tiebreaker.
Once there, the 20-year-olds continued to impress and had the lead throughout the set. The final scores were written 15–10.
In the round of 16, which will be played at 1 p.m. on Friday, there will be tough opposition. The Italian couple Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava are ranked fifth in the world.
Jonatan Hellvig and David Åhman are Sweden’s greatest beach volleyball talents, with, among other things, gold at the U22 EC and U21 WC. They were also awarded Svenska Dagbladet’s “Lilla Bragdguldet” in 2018.
In neither beach volleyball nor volleyball, Sweden had won a WC medal before.