ACTION in the Asian Beach Games volleyball competition heats up with teams from China, Oman, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhastan and the Philippines entering the Round of 16 unscathed.
Wang Yanwei and Wu Jiaxin breezed through to the next round of the men’s tournament without dropping a set, capping their three-match unbeaten run with a 21-19, 21-7 victory over Qatar’s Zaki Mohamed Ihab and Mou Musa Alkeer.
Indonesia’s Akbar Bintang and Efendi Sofyan Rachman also advanced with a 3-0 record after a 21-12, 21-15 victory over Saudi Arabia’s Alkhawaher Dhia and Mahfouz Ali.
Al Jalaboubi Hood and Alhashmi Mazin of Oman stunned Japan’s Dylan Kurokawa and Jumpei Ikeda, 21-17, 21-14, to also go through to the next round with a 3-0 mark.
Thailand’s Muadpha Wachirawit and Muneekul Netitorn completed a sweep of their group with a 21-17, 15-21, 15-7 victory over Lebanon’s Abi Karam Jad and El Chabib Hadi.
The other Thai pair of Nakprakhong Banlue and Taovato Poravid pulled off an even tougher victory in their loaded pool with four wins in four matches, capped by a 21-16, 21-12 win over Kazakhstan’s Yakovlev Dmitriy and Mokhammad Abdulmajid.
Iran’s Pourasgari Abbas and Aghajanighasab Alireza also went 4-0, defeating Alsakka Orwa and Albirini Kutiba, 21-8, 21-9.
Kazakhstan’s Bogatu Sergey and Gurin Kirill also went unbeaten but had to dig deep in the final pool play match before getting past Japan’s Fukushima Kosuke and Malki Nassim, 18-21, 23-21, 15-11.
In women’s play, China’s Dong Jie and Jiang Kaiyue dominated Qatar’s Abuissa Haya and Mohammad Bahmanzadeh Leyla, 21-8, 21-3, to advance with a 2-0 record.
The other Chinese pair of Zhou Mingli and Halaiti Kadeliye also marched on with an unblemished record after a 21-11, 21-11 over Korea’s Kim Jeonga and Shin Jieun.
The Philippines had two pairs moving on unbeaten, with Khylem Progella and Sofa Pagara edging out Laura Kabulbekova and Nadezhda Ivanchenko, 21-17, 22-20, for a 3-0 mark.
Filipinas Sunnie Kalani Villapando and Gryzelle Matibag also went 3-0 after a 21-8, 21-8 domination of Kazakhstan’s Yekaterina Ryukhova and Kristina Karimova.
Japan’s Sakura Iro and Miki Ishii cruised past Malaysia’s Rachael Yu Jie Goh and Sin Sing Yee, 21-7, 21-5, to also go 3-0.