Bruno Oscar Schmidt's bid to win back-to-back beach volleyball gold medals started with a new partner and a hiccup but also an all-important win.
Bruno and Evandro had to go an hour to collect a 2-1 win over Chile's Marco Grimalt and Esteban Grimalt, sandwiching 21-15 and 15-12 sets around a 21-16 loss.
Bruno took gold with Alison Cerutti in Rio, but the two-time Olympic medalist Alison is with Alvaro Filho in Tokyo. They handled Argentina's Nicolas Capogrosso and Julian Azaad in their opener.
Elsewhere, Dutch duo Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen handed a 2-0 loss to Team USA veteran duo Philip Dalhausser and Nicholas Lucena.
