Phu Yen, Vietnam, April 28, 2025 – After near flawless performances to win silver in consecutive two outings, Shaunna Polley/Olivia MacDonald’s dreams of winning their first AVC Beach Tour event came to reality on Monday as the gritty duo of New Zealand captured the maiden AVC Women’s Beach Tour Phu Yen Open at the L’Aurora Phu Yen Beach here.
In the final clash of the AVC Beach Tour 2nd Nuvali Open at City of Santa Rosa, Philippines on April 7, Polley/MacDonald, who snatched gold at the 2025 GJ Gardner Homes NZ Beach Tour in Mt Maunganui, succumbed to 0-2 loss to Australians Jasmine Fleming/Stefanie Fejes to take silver.
A week later, the Kiwis made their mark again at the AVC Beach Tour 24th Samila Open in Songkhla, Thailand to progress to the finale, but they still could not break the deadlock, going down 0-2 to Japanese Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto in the final showdown to claim their second silver.
In their third AVC Beach Tour attempts in the inaugural Phu Yen Open here in Vietnam, second seeds Polley/MacDonald finally fulfilled their dreams after 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) demolition of Thailand’s fifth seeds and 2021 Asian champions Taravadee Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee in the Monday’s electrifying showdown.
Polley, 32, was an Asian Championship gold medallist in 2022 when she teamed up with Alice Zeimann to stun top Australian duo, Taliqua Clancy/Mariafe Artacho del Solar in the women’s showdown in Roi Et, Thailand. The Kiwis also took part in the Commonwealth Games for two times coming 4th in the Birmingham Games in 2022.
In Phu Yen, Polley partnered MacDonald, 29 as second seeds to beat Aussies Tara Philipps/Lara Maric 2-0 in the pool play, stunning Ren/Non, who beat them in the Samila Open final showdown, 2-1 in the round of 16.
In the quarterfinals, Polley/MacDonald outplayed China’s Yu Tong/Jiang Kaiyue, bronze medallists at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Songkhla Futures, 2-0 and remained in exceptional form to beat Australia’s third seeds Elizabeth Alchin/Georgia Johnson 2-0 (21-15, 21-13) in the Monday morning’s semifinal clash.
Despite securing silver, Taravadee/Worapeerachayakorn still had something to be proud of as this is the Thailand’s first medal of the year achieved in the women’s event.
In the semifinals earlier, the Thai duo made much of the impact, stunning Australia’s top seeds Fleming/Fejes in tie-breaker 22-20, 21-23, 15-7. The Aussies had already beaten Taravadee/Worapeerachayakorn 2-0 in the third-place playoff at the Samila Open early this month.
The bronze medal match saw Alchin/Johnson eliminate Fleming/Fejes 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) in the all-Australian affair.
Meanwhile, n the awards presentation, champions Polley/MacDonald claimed US$2,600 prize money plus 320 AVC ranking points, while silver medallists Taravadee/Worapeerachayakorn bagged US$2,200 and 288 points. Bronze medallists Alchin/Johnson pocketed US$1,600 and 256 points, with fourth place finishers Fleming/Fejes taking home US$1,200 and 224 points.
MATCH RESULTS
FINAL RANKINGS
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