KEY POINTS:
New Zealand beach volleyball team Kirk Pitman and Jason Lochhead will need to pull out all stops over the rest of the Moscow Grand Slam this weekend to keep alive their Olympic hopes.
Pitman and Lochhead suffered straight-set defeats in their opening pool matches to Americans Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal, and Brazilians Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado.
The New Zealanders' recent form saw them gain automatic entry into the 24-strong main draw in Moscow.
They are looking for a high finish to carry their bid for Beijing over to the final Olympic qualifier in Marseille in a fortnight.
But they were placed in a tough pool, with both their 11th-seeded American and sixth-seeded Brazilian opponents also battling to qualify for the Olympics.
Against Gibb and Rosenthal, Pitman and Lochhead found themselves behind from the outset, and the Americans completed a 21-17 21-15 victory.
They also struggled against Harley and Pedro, who have been in great form, winning six World Tour events in the Olympic qualification period so far, but who remain only third in the Brazilian pecking order. Harley and Pedro ran out 21-14 21-15 winners.
Lochhead and Pitman still have a chance of making it through to the knockout stages if they beat their final pool opponents, Austrians Florian Gosch and Alexander Horst.
Gosch and Horst, who have already qualified for Beijing, also lost both their matches on day one.
- NZPA
