The blue and yellow Olympic gold winners were really in trouble in their first match in the group stage in Qatar's capital. The British twin pair Joaquin and Javier Bello had a match ball at 14–13 in the deciding set. But Åhman and Hellvig, who had previously lost the first set, managed to recover and turn it around to 16–14 and an initial victory in the tournament where they are reigning champions.
Later in the evening, the Brazilian duo Arthur Lanci and Evandro Oliveira awaited. Åhman and Hellvig started clearly best and won the first set convincingly, 21–10.
Then it became much more even.
The Swedes lost the second set 19–21 and were really in trouble in the deciding set, where their opponents took the lead 12–9.
But then David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig brought out their very best game. The turnaround to 15–13 impressed and gives an excellent starting position for the continuation of the group stage on Thursday, when the Dutch (van de Velde/Immers) and Norwegians (Mol/Sørum) stand on the other side of the net.
The number one in the five-team group goes directly to the semifinal, while the second and third places will play the quarterfinal.
