Zhongwei, Ningxia, China, August 26, 2019 – Hong Kong China powered past Korea in both men’s and women’s events to join China, Chinese Taipei and Japan in the semi-finals of the AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Phase 1 Eastern Zone on Monday.
In the women’s event, Team 1’s Koo Yung Yung/Au Yeung Wai Yan handed Hong Kong China a 1-0 advantage after spending 41 minutes in beating Kwak Yuhwa/Back Chaerim 2-1 (21-15 20-22 15-9), while Hong Kong China 2’s Lo Wai Yan/Ng Wing Laam brushed off Park Messo/Jang Eunyeong in comfortable straight sets 21-8 21-12 in 26 minutes.
However, a daunting task awaits Hong Kong China in the semi-finals when they will next go up against China on Tuesday, with Koo/Au Yeung taking on China 1’s Wang Fan/Xia Xinyi, both of whom captured gold medal at the last year’s Asian Games in Palembang and this year’s Samila Open in Songkhla, Thailand, and Lo/Ng challenging Wang Xinxin and Xue Chen, who picked up silver medal at the last year’s Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championship.
The other semi-final match sees Chinese Taipei take on Japan. Chinese Taipei 1’s Kou Nai-Han/Liu Pi-Hsin, winners at this year Satun 1-star, will challenge Japan 1’s Miki Ishii/Sayaka Mizoe, while Chinese Taipei 2’s Yu Ya-Hsuan/Pan Tzu-Yi will play Japan 2’s Nishibori Take/Ayumi Kusano.
In the men’s category, Hong Kong China 1’s Wong Yeung/Wong Kwun Pong overcame a strong challenge from Park Hyungkyung/Lee Dongseok in the opening set to beat the Korea 1’s duo in straight sets 21-19 21-9 in 33 minutes, while Hong Kong China 2’s P.M.Yeung/Chui Kam Lung played much better against Korea 2’s Kim Min/Park Giseop to cruise to a straight-set 21-11 21-15 victory in just 27 minutes.
Hong Kong China will next play powerhouses China, with Wong/Pong taking on China 1’s Gao Peng/Li Yang, both of whom captured gold medal at this year’s Samila Open and silver medal at 2019 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championship, and P.M Yeung/Chui Kam Lung being pitted against China 2’s Wu Jiaxin/Ha Likejiang.
The other semi-final clash sees Chinese Taipei battle it out with Japan. Chinese Taipei 1’s Wang Chin-Ju/Hsieh Ya-Jen will play Japan 1’s Takahashi Takumi/Hasegawa Yoshiumi and Chinese Taipei 2’s Hsu Chen-Wei/Wu Shin-Shian will face Japan 2’s Ishijima Gottsu/Katsuhira Shiratori.
The AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Phase 1 Eastern Zone kicked off on Monday, with five federations, China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Korea and Hong Kong China vying for the top honour and the lone ticket to the Final Phase.
The tournament is a federation v federation competition, playing in a single elimination in the best of 3 matches. However, if required, a golden match will be played to decide the eventual winning team, which sees any player from either Team 1 or Team 2 (of both sides) can be fielded in the golden match.
Each participating federation may be represented by two teams per gender but is allowed to nominate one reserve team.
According to the rules and regulations, only the winning federation will advance to the Final Phase, where a total of eight teams apiece will compete in the men’s and women’s events. They include five winning federations from each Zone, one team from defending champions (Australia in the women’s event and Qatar in the men’s category), one team of the host country and one winning team from the other tournament which features the second-best team from each zone plus the host country.
However, since there will be no women’s team from the Western Asia, top two teams from the women’s tournament among the second-best teams (and host country) will be eligible for the Final Phase.
In the Final Phase, only the eventual men’s and women’s winning teams will make the cut for the next year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
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AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
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