Aland, Finland, August 16, 2011 – Bruno Oscar Schmidt and Joao Maciel twice beat their Brazilian compatriots on the opening day of the men’s competition at the $380,00 Paf Open in Aland.

The wins clinched their place in the qualification rounds by winning the Brazilian country quota matches.

“Now I’m in the tournament proper because the country quota round isn’t the tournament proper,” Bruno said. “The team played well in both matches.”

First up the Brazilians came back from a loss in the first set to see off Moises Santos and Alvaro Filho 22-24, 21-12,15-10.

In the second the duo again went close in a three-setter, in which they defeated Thiago Santos and Harley Marques 21-19, 20-22, 15-12.

“We came from an excellent tournament in Klagenfurt where we reached the semifinals,” Bruno said. “Today we tried to play in a calm way and do our best. We wanted to take the opportunities we had and that was working well.

“It was a tough draw with two excellent Brazilian teams. I’m pretty happy with how the team played today, even though I was playing with some pain in my shoulder.”

In the Norway country quota match Jorre Andre Kjemperud and Kim Hellum beat Eskil Holtan and Oyvind Wergerland to advance.