Beach volleyball: Kiwis into the main draw

New Zealand's Kirk Pitman and Jason Lochhead staged a come-from-behind win to make the main draw of the first round of the world beach volleyball series in Adelaide.

Pitman and Lochhead beat Farid Mussa and Jesus Villafane of Venezuela 19-21, 21-19, 16-14 to be one of three combinations to protect their seedings going through the qualifying tournament for the Adelaide Open at Glenelg Beach.

Pitman and Lochhead, who are bidding to qualify for the Olympics, will play Australians Isaac Kapa and Brett Richardson in the first round.