Canada's Humana-Paredes, Wilkerson advance to knockout round in Qatar

Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are onto the knockout round at the season-opening Elite16 beach volleyball tournament in Doha.

The Toronto duo finished the group stage with a 2-1 record following its 2-1 (21-10, 22-24, 13-15) loss to Latvia's Anastasija Samoilova and Tina Graudina on Thursday.

Despite winning more points overall, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson committed eight errors and surrendered five blocks (compared to four of their own) in the loss.

The Canadians will return to action Friday at 1 a.m. ET for a Round of 12 match against Brazil's 14th-ranked team of Agatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti. A victory would launch Humana-Paredes into the quarterfinals, which take place later Friday. The semifinals and medal matches are set for Saturday.

Watch live coverage from Doha at 1 a.m. ET Friday on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem, with action continuing Saturday at 2 a.m. ET.

In 2023, the Canadians placed at least fifth in each of their nine appearances at Beach Pro Tour tournaments  and the world championship in Mexico.

They won gold medals at the Jurmala Challenge and Montreal Elite16, and bronze at the Ostrava Elite16.

Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson were also Canada's flag-bearers at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, where they captured the country's first women's beach volleyball medal at the Games with a silver.

WATCH | Canadian duo falls to Latvia: