Tianjin, China, July 13, 2024 – We are approaching the conclusion of the AVC Beach Tour Tianjin Open, which already had two semifinalists in both men’s and women’s events at Dongjiang Gulf Beach, Binhai here to fight for top honor and the highest AVC ranking points 320 on Sunday.
In the women’s event, China is assured of securing one slot in the final as eighth seeds Wang Fan/Bai Bing will face off against seventh seeds Yan Xu/Zhou Mingli in the all-Chinese semifinal clash at the Center Court at 9am local time, while Japan’s fifth seeds Asami Shiba/Saki Maruyama will fight it out with second seeds Stafanie Fejes/Georgia Johnson of Australia in the other semifinal encounter at the same time on Court 2. The third-place playoff and the final match are due to be held at 2pm on Court 2 and Center Court respectively.
On Saturday, Chinese Wang/Bai showcased their exceptional form as the Chinese pair brushed off Thailand’s Patcharaporn Seehawong/Samitta Simarongnam 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) in round of last 16.
They made it two on the trot following their second victory against another Thai duo, Charanrutwadee Patcharamainaruebhorn/Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) in the quarterfinals.
Chinese Yan Xu/Zhou Mingli also claimed two consecutive wins on Saturday. The Chinese first downed Hong Kong, China’s To Wing Tung/To Wing Man 2-0 (21-13, 21-15) to later demolish Wang Jingzhe/Mushajiang Aheidan 2-0 (23-21, 21-17) in the all-Chinese quarterfinal affair.
Japanese Shiba/Maruyama outplayed Riko Tsujimura/Takemi Nishibori 2-0 (21-8, 21-18) in the all-Japanese clash of round of 16 but struggled hard to beat Chinese Wang Xinxin/Xing Jiayi in tie-breaker 21-15, 13-21, 15-13 in the quarterfinal encounter.
Jasmine Fleming/Jana Milutinovic had a difficult match against Akiko Hasegawa/Miki Ishii to stun the Japan’s top seeds with a comeback 2-1 (12-21, 21-13, 18-16) win in round of last 16. However, in the quarterfinal match, Fleming/Milutinovic found Stafanie Fejes/Georgia Johnson too hot to handle to go down tamely 0-2 (18-21, 17-21) in the all-Australian affair.
Meanwhile, the men’s event also sees Thailand advance to the final showdown as sixth seeds Netitorn Muneekul/Wachirawit Muadpha will up against top seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato in the all-Thai semifinal clash on Court 2 at 10am local time, with Iran’s fifth seeds Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab challenging third seeds Wang Yanwei/Liu Chuanyong in the second semifinal at Center Court at 10pm. The bronze-medal match and the final showdown are set to take place at 3pm on Court 2 and Center Court respectively.
In the last 16 encounters on Saturday, Thailand’s Pithak/Poravid gained a sweet revenge against Hood Al Jalaboubi /Mazin Alhashmi, to whom they lost 1-2 in the Golden Match of the final showdown between Thailand and Oman which decided the winners in the recent AVC Continental Cup Semifinals in Ningbo Xiangshan and the remaining slot in the Continental Cup Finals.
Pithak/Poravid got through with the comfortable 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) win against the Omanis and continued their near-flawless performance to beat Iran’s GhalehNovi AmirAli/Habib AkbarzadehKashani 21-13, 21-16 in the quarterfinals.
Netitorn/Wachirawit, also made their mark on Saturday as the Thai duo first eliminated Aussies James Takken/Joshua Howat 2-0 (22-20, 21-19) in the round of last 16.
The Thais later stunned another Australian duo, Solomon Bushby/Ben Hood, with comeback 2-1 (24-26, 21-18, 15-10) in the quarterfinals.
Iran’s Pourasgari/Aghajani, who emerged triumphant at the 2023 Nuvali Open in the Philippines, bounced back to beat Japan’s Nassim Malki/Ryuichi Adachi 2-1 (20-22, 21-11, 15-7) in round of last 16.
However, the Iranians struggled hard again to recover from the first set down to beat Australia’s Jack Pearse/D’Artagnan Potts 2-1 (17-21, 21-19, 25-23) in the exhausting 67-minute quarterfinal clash.
China’s Wang/Liu beat Omanis Haitham Alshereiqi/Ahmed Alhousni 2-0 (24-22, 21-18) in round of last 16 to next continue their onslaughts following their comfortable 2-0 (21-15, 21-16) win against Japan’s Dylan Hiroki Kurokawa/Kosuke Fukushima in the quarterfinals.
MATCH RESULTS
MEN
WOMEN
MATCH SCHEDULE
MEN
WOMEN
FINAL RANKING
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WOMEN
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