Strong teams made impressive starts with convincing wins on Day 1 of the 2023 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships at Beach Sport Base of Pingtan in Fuzhou, China, as Australia’s third seeds Thomas Hodges/Zachery Schubert had mixed luck on Friday.
As many as 58 teams from 15 countries including 32 men’s teams are testing their mettle in the four-day championships, vying for top honor in the men’s and women’s events and accumulating points.
In the men’s competition, big names had a field day to claim two wins in a row and secure their places in the round of 16.
In Pool A, Chinese top seeds Ha Likejiang/Wu Jiaxin, who had already captured three titles this year comprising the AVC Beach Tour Samila Open in Songkhla, Thailand, the Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta Beach in Australia and Beach Pro Tour Futures Mt Maunganui Beach in New Zealand, got their home campaign off to victorious starts after brushing off Hong Kong, China’s Lam Wai Lung/Wong Ka Yun 21-13, 21-5 and Kazakhstan’s Aldash Nurdos/Giurin Kirill 21-11, 21-12 for two in a row.
On Saturday, the Chinese duo will take on Intuch Techakijvorakul/Nuttanon Inkiew. The Thai tandem lost their first match 1-2 (21-18, 15-21, 11-15) against the Kazakhs on Friday, but made amends in their second encounter against Lam/Wong to beat the Hong Kong, China duo 21-11, 21-10 in 25 minutes.
Defending champions and second seeds Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan from Qatar, bronze medallists at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics who claimed silver at the last month’s Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 event in Ostrava, Czech Republic, also captured two successive wins in Pool B.
The Qataris first outplayed Chinese Salamu Aihemaiti/Lyu Lin 21-17, 21-15 before trouncing Iranians Saleminjehboroun Bahman/Shokati Shekarsarael Sina 21-16, 21-12 in their second match. Cherif/Ahmed will go up against Japan’s Furuta Shiro/Kurokawa Hiroki Dylan on Saturday.
In Pool C, Australian third seeds Thomas/Schubert, who had recently captured the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Jurmala Challenge in Latvia, spent only 28 minutes in overcoming Hong Kong, China’s Wong Pui Lam/Lau Check Yin 21-15, 21-10. However, the Australians suffered a setback as they went down 1-2 (27-29, 21-18, 11-15) to Iranians Pourasgari Abbas/Aghajanighasab Alireza in their later encounter. On Saturday, the Aussies are set to challenge China’s Li Jie/Wang Yanwei, who had already claimed two wins against the Iranian and the Hong Kong China pairings.
The 2021 winners and fourth seeds Christopher McHugh/Paul Burnett from Australia also clinched two wins on the trot, seeing off Iranians Mansouri Zargham/Mahfouzi Mahdi 21-16, 21-15 before beating Kiwis James Sadlier/Alani Nicklin 21-17, 21-13. McHugh/Burnett will next go up against China’s Li Zhuoxin/Liu Chuanyong.
Another Australian pairing, fifth seeds Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher in Pool E, Thailand’s 6th seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato in Pool F, Thailand’s 7th seeds Surin Jongklang/Dunwinit Kaewsai in Pool G and Indonesians Efendi Sofyan Rachman/Pribadi Danangsyah in Pool H also performed well to win two straight matches on the opening day of the topflight championships.
With only top two teams from each pool advancing to round of last 16, teams claiming two wins on the opening day are assured of making the cut for that round.
In the women’s competition, teams with higher seedings made their mark in the pool round-robin preliminaries. Chinese top seeds Lin Meimei/Zeng Jinjin outplayed Jana Milutinovic/Stefanie Fejes 21-18, 21-13 in Pool A. The Australians earlier recovered from the first-set down 21-23 to beat Asami Shiba/Saki Maruyama 21-16, 15-12. Lin/Zeng will next take on the Japanese 16th seeds on Saturday.
In Pool B, Thailand’s second seeds and the 2021 Asian champions Taravadee Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee beat Floremel Rodriguez/Jane Eslapor Genesa in lopsided 30-minute affair 21-13, 21-8. The Philippine pairing suffered two losses in a row as they earlier went down 13-21, 8-21 in 32 minutes to Japanese Suzuka Hashimot/Reika Murakami. Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn will challenge Suzuka/Reika on Saturday to determine the Pool B winners.
Kazakhstan’s Laura Kabulbekova/Nadezhda Ivanchenko lost twice in Pool C to crash out of the championships, leaving Japanese third seeds Miki Ishii/Sayaka Mizoe to fight it out with Australians Tara Phillips/Brittany Kendall on Saturday for the Pool C winners. Earlier, Phillips/Kendall produced comeback 2-1 (21-23, 21-8, 15-7) win against Kabulbekova/Ivanchenko, with Ishii/Mizoe cruising past the Kazakh duo 21-10, 21-12.
Japanese fourth seeds Akiko/Yurika will battle it out with Varapatsorn Radarong/Tanarattha Udomchavee on Saturday for the top spot in Pool D. Akiko hasegawa/Yurika Sakaguchi and the veteran Thais had already beaten Kazakhstan’s Ukolova Anastassiya/Alina Rachenko with the similar margin 2-0.
In Pool E, Thailand’s Charanrutwadee Patcharamainaruebhorn/Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert lost a tough match to To Wing Tung/Wong Man Ching 1-2 (21-19, 18-21, 12-15), but the Hong Kong, China’s duo could not go the distance as they succumbed to 16-21, 13-21 loss to Chinese Xia Xinyi/Xue Chen, fifth seeds and the 2016 Asian champions. Xia/Xue will take on the Thai pairing on Saturday.
Chinese sixth seeds Wang Xinxin/Zhu Lingdi defeated New Zealanders Kiana Stevenson/Rosa Vesty 21-10, 21-19 in Pool F to next take on Australians Caitlin Bettenay/Alisha Stevens, who had already beaten the Kiwis 21-11, 21-15.
In Pool G, Alice Zeimann, who last year teamed up with Shaunna Polley to capture the 2022 Asian crown in Roi-Et, Thailand, switched to partner Olivia MacDonald as 10th seeds. The Kiwis mercilessly crushed Hong Kong, China’s Lo Wai Yan/Yuen Ting Chi 21-7, 21-11 and will next take on seventh seeds Dong Jie/Wang Fan on Saturday. The Chinese pairing also had little problem in beating Macau China’s Law Weng Sam/Leong On Leng 21-15, 21-8 earlier on Friday.
Chinese Ahedan Mushajiang/Wang Jingzhe stunned Australian 8th seeds Georgia Johnson/Jasmine Fleming 21-14, 21-12 in Pool H to next challenge Vanuatu’s Majabelle Lawac/Sherysyn Toko, who beat Kazakhstan’s Dana Tlevlessoval/Dariya Tlevlessova 21-15, 21-15. The other Pool H encounter on Saturday sees Johnson/Fleming take on the Kazakh pairing.
Pool plays continue on Saturday in both men’s and women’s events. After conclusion of the prelims, top two teams from each pool in both genders will secure their spots in the round of last 16.
MEN’S RESULTS
MEN’S POOL RANKINGS
WOMEN’S RESULTS
WOMEN’S POOL RANKINGS
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