Moscow, Russia, May 27, 2015 - Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude almost packed their bags for home here Monday, but a late withdrawal by a women's team from Sweden gave the German team a second chance in the eighth annual Moscow Grand Slam.The No. 2-ranked team on the FIVB World Tour after three events in 2015, Laboureur and Sude were eliminated from the competition by losing in the German country quota playoff Monday to Victoria Bieneck and Julia Grossner Germany 2-1 (14-21, 21-15, 16-14) in 42 minutes.But the withdrawal of a Swedish pair due to injury opened a spot in Tuesday's 32-team qualifier where the Laboureur and Sude were seeded first and ousted teams from South Africa and Russia to advance to the Moscow Grand Slam Main Draw as the 15th-seeded tandem playing in Pool B with compatriots Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler.As "luck" had it, the two German teams met in the first-round of pool play Wednesday with Laboureur and Sude defeating second-seeded Holtwick and Semmler 2-1 (21-14, 16-21, 15-12) in 47 minutes to tie for the group leadership with Joana Heidrich and Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland.Laboureur and Sude play 31st-seeded Olga Motrich and Daria Rudykh of Russia in their second match Wednesday before meeting 18th-seeded Heidrich and Zumkehr Thursday. The top three teams in each pool advance to Friday's elimination rounds with the group leader earning a first-round "bye".Bottom-line for Laboureur and Sude was the "luck" of still playing in Moscow and earning qualifying points for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games instead of leaving the Russian capital with the disappointment of a "miserable Monday in Moscow."By competing in the qualifier, a team earns 40 points with another 40 added for winning a match and an addition 80 for advancing to the Main Draw. By advancing from the pool as the second- or third-place finisher, a team can earn 80 more points. By winning a group, a team can net 200 more points.It is all complicated, but for Laboureur and Sude it means they can worry more about playing their next match this week in Moscow than being at home in Germany "stewing" about a missed opportunity in their bid to represent their country in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.