BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) --Chinese beach volleyball men duo Wu Penggen/Xu Linyin advanced Tuesday to top 16 in Beijing Olympics beach volleyball tournament after a Spanish pair in their same group netted their second win.

    Spanish duo Herrera/Mesa defeated Gosch/Horst of Austria in a preliminary in Group A held Tuesday night.

    Xu/Wu won over Estonian pair Kais/Vesik earlier Tuesday, adding a victory to their first preliminary win over Gosch/Horst of Austria on Sunday.

    Beijing Olympics beach volleyball tournament features 24 men's teams and 24 women's teams. The 24 pairs are allocated into six groups for round robin preliminary matches. The best two in each group and four best third-placed advance to top 16.

    The Chinese pair, for their first time at the Olympics, is also the first Chinese beach volleyball men duo competing at the Olympic Games.

    The Chinese pair, which has clinched five silver medals and two bronzes on the FIVB World Tour, is considered a medal contender at the Beijing Olympics.

    China's women duos Wang Jie/Tian Jia and Zhang Xi/Xue Chen have advanced to top 16 in women's beach volleyball tournament.