Songkhla, Thailand, April 13, 2025 – The AVC Beach Tour 24th Samila Open kicked off in dramatic fashion as most of big names escaped unscathed on the opening day of the much-anticipated four-day event.
Despite the maximum temperature hitting 33 degrees Celsius at the Samila Beach on Sunday, the sapping heat failed to wreak havoc with higher-seeded teams’s prominent performances as they still quickly contributed fresh energy and enthusiasm to celebrate their first-day victories.
In the action-packed men’s event, only China’s Mao Yuan/Liu Yuan and Iran’s 15th seeds AmirAli GhalehNovi/Bahman Salemiinjehboroun found themselves in hot water in their opening Pool A and Pool B campaigns.
The 16th seeds Mao/Liu, who made a dismal 17th finish at the recent Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures Samila 2025, narrowly went down in tie-breaker 21-14, 18-21, 13-15 in exhausting clash against Kazakhstan’s 17th seeds Dmitriy Yakovlev/Abdulmajid Mohammad in Pool A.
The 15th seeds Iranians, fourth place at the last week’s AVC Beach Tour 2nd Nuvali Open in Philippines, also had a disappointing start following their easy 0-2 (12-21, 16-21) loss to another Kazakhstan’s pairing, 18th seeds Sergey Bogatu/Kirill Gurin in Pool B. In 2017, Bahman Salemiinjehboroun partnered Rahman Raoufi to win the Asian title at the same competition here in Songkhla.
Qatar’s top seeds and current world No.13 Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan proved too strong for Kan Sze Hang/Wong Chun to mercilessly crush the Hong Kong, China’s duo in a totally one-sided battle 21-8, 21-6 in Pool B. The Qataris, who on April 10 secured gold at the GCC Beach Games Muscat 2025 and handed Qatar the first-ever Olympic medal in beach volleyball after picking up bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, will take on Kazakhs Bogatu/Gurin in the Monday morning before going up against Iran’s Salemiinjehboroun/GhalehNovi in the afternoon.
Three local pairings and two teams apiece from powerhouses Australia, Japan, Indonesia and New Zealand went through the first round without much trouble.
Thailand’s fifth seeds Netitorn Muneekul/Wachirawit Muadpha powered past Vietnamese Nguyen Cao Nguyen/Phu Tho Bao 2-0 (21-8, 21-11) in Pool A.
Another Thai duo, sixth seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato, who claimed victory at the last year’s AVC Beach Tour Taoyuan Open in Chinese Taipei, outplayed Malaysians Teh You Hao/Low Jeng Yih 2-0 (21-14, 21-9) in Pool F.
Thailand’s seventh seeds Dunwinit Kaewsai/Banlue Nakprakhong, fresh from taking bronze at the concluded Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures Samila 2025 here, struggled to beat Vietnamese Phong Lieu Hoang Quoc/Nguyen Hoang Long 2-1 (21-12, 18-21, 15-11) in Pool G.
In Pool C, Australia’s second seeds and defending Asian champions D’Artagnan Potts/Jack Pearse successfully cleared the first hurdle with impressive 2-0 (21-10, 21-12) win against Malaysians Ler Wei Chun/Looi Kai Xu.
Australia’s fourth seeds Paul Burnett/Luke Ryan, gold medallists at the last Monday’s 2nd Nuvali Open in Philippines, pulled off confident 2-0 (21-14, 21-14) triumph over Sri Lankans Nalin Perera/Madusha Wikramasingha in Pool E.
Indonesians also made their mark on the first day as 14th seeds Danangsyah/Yosi Firnando brushed off Filipinos Edwin Tolentino/Lerry John Francisco 2-0 (21-11, 21-8) in Pool C.
Another strong duo of third seeds Bintang Akbar/Sofyan Rachman Efendi, who won the country’s first-ever Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour gold at the last year’s Wuhan Qingshan Futures in China, outlasted Singaporeans Fernando Rehan Tharusha/Sasikumar Ranjiv 2-0 (21-9, 21-14) in Pool D.
New Zealand’s eighth seeds Bradley Fuller/Ben O’Dea, who sealed the victory at the recent Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta, beat Singaporeans Eng Cheng Feng Renfred/Soon Daniel Wei Sheng 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) in Pool H, while Iran’s ninth seeds Alireza Aghajanighasab/Abbas Pourasgari, who took home silver medal at the previous 23rd edition here last year, lived up to their ability to demolish Uzbekistan’s Dilshodbek Tolibaev/Azamat Daullbaev 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) in the same pool.
Japan’s 11th seeds Kai Kurokawa/Ryuichi Adachi and 10th seeds Takumi Takahashi/Jumpei Ikeda both sealed their first wins on Sunday, with the former facing a strong challenge from Dileepa Senarathna/Dilshan Malith Silva to beat the Sri Lankans in thrilling three-setter 21-14, 14-21, 15-13 in Pool F and the latter overcoming Saudi Arabians Dhia Alkhawaher/Alkaibi Hassan 2-1 (21-12, 17-21, 15-5) in Pool G.
In the women’s event, Kazakhstan’s Kristina Karimova/Yekaterina Ryukhova crashed out of the competition as the 17th seeds sustained an injury which forced them to forfeit both matches on the opening day, going down 0-2 (0-21, 0-21) to Australia’s 14th seeds Tara Phillips/Lara Maric and another 0-2 (0-21, 0-21) loss to Thailands’ fourth seeds Taravadee Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee in Pool A. With only top two out of three teams in this Pool progressing, the Kazakh duo are assured of missing the cut.
Australia’s top seeds Stefanie Fejes/Jasmine Fleming, who reigned supreme at the last Monday’s 2nd Nuvali Open in Philippines, started their dreams of winning back-to-back AVC Beach Tour title with exceptional 2-0 (21-15, 21-11) win against Filipinas Sunnie Kalani Villapando/Jenny Gaviola in Pool B,
Another Australia’s duo, second seeds Elizabeth Alchin/Georgia Johnson, who claimed bronze at the 2025 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta and the last week’s AVC Beach Tour 2nd Nuvali Open, trounced Macao China’s Leong Onieng/Law Wengsam 2-0 (21-13, 21-13).
In Pool D, New Zealand’s third seeds Shaunna Polley/Olivia MacDonald, winners at this year’s GJ Gardner Homes NZ Beach Tour and silver medallists at the 2nd Nuvali Open in Philippines, defeated Hong Kong, China’s Au Yeung Waiyan/Yuen Tingchi 2-0 (21-11, 21-19).
The Kiwis will next take on Thailand’s 13th Tanarattha Udomchavee/Rumpaipruet Numwong, who on Sunday cruised past Singaporeans Francesca Naila Dipoditiro/Ang Huiying 2-0 (21-10, 21-9).
Pool E encounters saw China’s fifth seeds Yan Xu/Zhou Mingli, winners at the 2024 Wuhan Qingshan Futures, beat Vietnamese Tran Thi Ven/Dinh Thi My Nga 2-0 (21-11, 21-14), to next go up against Japan’s 11th seeds Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto, who took silver at the concluded Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures Samila here and who downed Malaysians Aishah Iskandar Noor/Shamsulrizal Nur Auni Maisarah 2-0 (21-13, 21-12) in their first match on Sunday.
The other two Japan’s pairings also captured their victories, with sixth seeds Asami Shiba/Reika Murakami beating Vietnamese Lan Chau Ngoc/Hong Hanh Mai 2-0 (21-8, 21-13) in Pool F and seventh seeds Saki Maruyama/Miki Ishi overwhelming Malaysians Azhar Nuradrieana/Noor Aizuddin Nur Azwa Qariesya 2-0 (21-9, 21-9).
Songkhla Governor Mr Chotinarin Kerdsom and Thailand Volleyball Association President Mr Somporn Chaibangyang jointly presided over the opening ceremony of the AVC Beach Tour 24th Samila Open on Sunday afternoon at the Samila Beach, with participating teams or representatives marching in a joyous parade into the venue to hear the Governor’s welcome speech during the opening.
Impressive performances from young women in modern dance outfits received a round of applause from beach volleyball fans and holiday-goers who braved the heat to get a closer glimpse at the venue.
Meanwhile, Technical Delegate Mr Kritsada Panaseri has already confirmed that drawing of lots for the round of 16 will be conducted at the Technical Delegate’s Office at the venue 20 minutes after conclusion of pool play matches on Monday. Players, coaches and team staff are invited to witness the draw.
The pool play continues on Monday morning and afternoon, with top two teams from each pool in each event advancing to the single-elimination knockout rounds starting from the round of 16 and quarterfinals on Tuesday, April 15. Semifinals and finals will be held on April 16, with the awards presentation and closing ceremony taking place shortly after completion of the final men’s and women’s showdowns in the afternoon.
At the end of the first-day matches, participating teams as well as local organisers and Control officials, all wearing colorful floral shirts, joined the Songkran Festival at the BP Samila Beach Hotel, splashing water to each other, some using their squirt guns in their hands to shoot water to the others.
Almost everyone joining the Water Festival on Sunday got soaked with scented water and white clay filler, but their faces were brimming with joyful happiness and enthusiasm.
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