Santa Rosa, Philippines, November 8, 2024 – On a day when all Thai players sadly crashed out of the 2024 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships at Nuvali Sand Courts, seven Australian teams including four men’s pairs advanced to the highly-anticipated quarterfinals, with top seeds Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher and Joshua Howat/Luke Ryan fighting it out in an all-Australian affair and second seeds Thomas Hodges/Zachery Schubert challenging Chinese veterans Wu Jiaxin/Ha Likejiang on Saturday.
Nicolaidis/Carracher, who claimed the 2024 Mollymook Futures title and 2023 AVC Beach Tour Penghu Open in Chinese Taipei to their name, eliminated Thailand’s Netitorn Muneekul/Wachirawit Muadpha 21-9, 21-19 in Round of 16 on Friday.
Nicolaidis/Carracher will next take on compatriots Howat/Ryan, who toppled Japan’s Kai Kurokawa/Ryuichi Adachi 21-12, 21-11, in the Saturday morning’s quarterfinals.
Second seeds Thomas Hodges/Zachery Schubert, reigning champions who captured their first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour in the 2023 Jurmala Challenge, also secured their quarterfinal berth following their 2-0 (21-12, 21-14) demolition of Japan’s Yoshiumi Hasegawa/Dylan Hiroki Kurokawa in Round of 16.
The Aussies will next go up against fifth seeds Wu Jiaxin/Ha Likejiang.
The highly-experienced Wu/Ha could prove one of the strongest pairs to be reckoned with in this double-gender championships, seeing off Thailand’s Dunwinit Kaewsai/Banlue Nakprakhong 21-12, 21-14 in Round of 16 on Friday.
The Chinese duo took silver medal in the 2020 Asian Championships in Udon Thani, Thailand. They also captured the 2023 Wenzhou Cangnan Futures on home soil and three consecutive titles on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures on the same year comprising Sohar in Oman, Mount Maunganui in New Zealand and Coolangatta Futures in Australia.
After shutting out Japan’s Takahashi Takumi/Ikeda Jumpei 21-17, 21-17 in Round of 16, Australia’s third seeds D’Artagnan Potts/Jack Pearse, silver medallists at the AVC Beach Tour Taoyuan Open in Chinese Taipei early this year, will next face off against Kazakhstan’s qualifiers Dmitriy Yakovlev/Sergey Bogatu in the Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Yakovlev/Bogatu struggled to beat Indonesians Akbar Bintang/Efendi Sofyan Rachman 26-24, 17-21, 15-12 in Round of 16 on Friday.
The remaining quarterfinal encounter will see qualifiers Bahman Salemiinjehboroun/Abolhassan Khakizadeh fight it out with Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab in an all-Iranian battle.
Salemi/Abolhassan advanced when their opponents Kiwis Alani Nicklin/Thomas Hartles were forced to forfeit their match in Round of 16, while A. Pourasgari/Aghajani routed compatriots GhalehNovi AmirAli/AkbarzadehKashani Habib 21-14, 23-21 in another clash.
GhalehNovi/AkbarzadehKashani beat Thailand’s Surin Jongklang/Kittituch Khomkham 21-14, 21-12.
Meanwhile, three women’s teams apiece from Australia and China paraded into the Saturday’s quarterfinals.
China’s top seeds Wang Jingzhe/Xia Xinyi, who brushed off Filipinas Eslapor Genesa Jane/Orillaneda Mary Klymince 21-13, 21-8 in Round of 16 on Friday, will challenge compatriots and 10th seeds Yan Xu/Zhou Mingli.
Yan/Zhou advanced following the 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) shutout of Thailand’s Tanarattha Udomchavee/Rumpaipruet Numwong.
Another Chinese pair, fourth seeds, Xue Chen/Zeng Jinjin, will take on Australian’s 13th seeds Tara Phillips/Kayla Mears. In their Round of 16 encounters on Friday, Xue/Zeng overpowered Filipinas Progella Khylem Hari/Pagara Sofiah Shanine 21-14, 21-11.
Phillips/Mears upset Thailand’s third seeds Taravadee Naraphornrapat/Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert 21-14, 21-15 in another Round of 16 match.
Australia’s second seeds Jana Milutinovic/Stefanie Fejes, who landed consecutive two-time Coolangatta Futures titles and champions at the 2024 Mollymook Futures, will challenge Shaunna Polley/Olivia MacDonald in the Saturday’s quarterfinals. In Round of 16, the Australian duo crushed Thailand’s Salinda Mungkhon/Somruedee Koedkaew 21-10, 21-12.
The embattled Kiwis faced a stiff challenge from Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto to narrowly edge past the Japanese duo 22-20, 21-18.
Australians Jasmine Fleming/Elizabeth Alchin, who produced a comeback 2-1 (14-21, 21-14, 15-12) win against compatriots Alisha Stevens/Cameron Zajer in Round of 16, will next take on Asami Shiba/Saki Maruyama in the quarterfinals.
The Japanese pair saw off Indonesians Desi Ratnasari/Nur Sari Atika 21-19, 21-6 in another Round of 16 match.
The quarterfinals will commence on Saturday at 8.30am local time in the women’s event, while the men’s teams will kick off their quarterfinal campaign from 10.10am. The four winning teams in both men’s and women’s events will next advance to the afternoon’s semifinals.
MATCH RESULTS
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WOMEN
MATCH SCHEDULE
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WOMEN
FINAL RANKINGS
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