What is technically the first day of the Cancun Bubble — country quotas are not included in competition days — features one less team than expected — but in a good way. After Chasing Gold athlete Casey Patterson and Chase Budinger pulled out of the country quota due to a light knee injury, Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb jumped out of the quota and into the qualifier as the one seed. Then, after watching Chaim Schalk and Theo Brunner beat Miles Evans and Bill Kolinske, 21-19, 21-18, in the country quota, Bourne and Crabb received another gift.
Dutch blocker Christiaan Varenhorst dropped out with a calf injury, bumping Bourne and Crabb directly into the main draw.
It makes qualifier day in Cancun a two-team affair: Schalk and Brunner will see the Swedish Jump Setters, David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, the darlings of Doha. Should they win, they’ll meet Chileans Marco and Esteban Grimalt for a berth into main draw.
On the women’s end, it is only Chasing Gold athletes Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes. They begin with the host country, Esperanza Castro and Atenas Guzman. The winner will meet the victor of Brazil and Finland.
Below are the streams for Friday’s qualifier.
