Visiting teams stole the show to parade into the quarterfinals as home teams suffered major setbacks in the men’s event to all crash out of the 2023 Asian U21 Beach Volleyball Championships in Roi Et on Friday.
All men’s teams of hosts Thailand succumbed to bitter losses to their respective opponents on Friday. Top seeds Phuthanet Khamtal/Saiphirun Ruairung of Thailand1 opened up their Day 2 competition on high note after comeback 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 15-11) win against Iran2’s Ali Ghorbanpasandi/Habib Naseri in their last preliminary match to top Pool A.
However, the Thai duo could not make the grade in the round of last 16 to go down to Kazakhstan2’s Vladislav Mastikhin/Daniil Zhigalov in dramatic three-setter 21-10, 17-21, 12-15.
Thailand3’s Supasak Deeden/Kittipoom Ruchisuk, who earlier demolished Japan1’s Kota Kurosawa/Takuma Mizobeta 2-0 and Omar Abi Karam/Hadi El Chabib of Lebanon 2-1 to top Pool F, lost 13-21, 21-15, 9-15 to Australia2’s D’Artagnan Potts/Mitchell Croft in the round of last 16.
Thailand2’s Watanyoo Jaita/Wichaya Wisetkan, who had mixed luck in the pool play following their 2-0 win against Vietnam2’s But Van Hoai/Nguyen Hoang Bao Linh and 1-2 loss to Kazakhstan1’s Avail Todorov/Klim Ryukhov to finish second in Pool D, fell victim to Australia1’s second seeds Lucas Josefsen/Ben Hood 0-2 (13-21, 20-22) in the round of last 16.
Also winning in the round of last 16 to secure their berths in the Saturday’s quarterfinals comprised Omar Abi Karam/Hadi El Chabib of Lebanon, who brushed off Malaysia1’s Wei Chun Ler/Kai Xu Looi 22-20, 21-17, Iran1’s Mardi Alizadeh Koyakhi/Reza Zamani Amir, who struggled to beat Vietnam1’s Nguyen Anh Tuan/Phu Tho Bao 2-1 (24-22, 17-21, 16-14), Kazakhstan1’s Ivailo Todorov/Klim Ryukhov following their 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) demolition of Singapore1’s Fernando Rehan Tharusha/Ngoh Caleb and Ali Ghorbanpasandi/Habib Naseri of Iran2 after 2-0 (21-13, 21-9) win against Hong Kong, China1’s Rao Siu Chung/Lee Cheuk Hei.
Xu Zongqi/Zhou Yongji also booked their quarterfinals ticket after comeback 2-1 win against third seeds Hong Weqiang/Song Jinyang in the all-Chinese affair. Hong and Song took the close first set 34-32, lost the second set 18-21 and due to the unexpected injury, they had a difficult going in the third set to go down 5-15.
Meanwhile, the pool round-robin preliminaries continue through Saturday morning in the women’s event before the quarterfinals, with matches decided by the drawing of lots, and semifinals will be held later in the afternoon.
On Friday, Thailand2’s Salinda/Samitta registered their first win in a completely one-sided affair against Singapore1’s Ang Hui Ying/Lim Hazel 21-7, 21-9 in Pool B and made it two in a row following their comeback 2-1 (23-25, 21-13, 15-12) win against Australian second seeds Jasmin Fleming/Stefanie Fejes.
In Pool C, Australia2’s Elizabeth Alchin/Kayla Mears spent 30 minutes in disposing of Vietnam1’s Mai Hong Han/Nguyen Thi Thu 21-13, 21-12, but succumbed to 1-2 (22-24, 22-20, 12-15) defeat at the hands of Chinese third seeds Yan Xu/Zhou Mingji in the afternoon.
The Australian girls will next take on Thailand3’s Suchinna/Tassanee on Saturday.
Veitnam2’s Dinh Thi My Nga/Thach Thi Thuy pulled off a comfortable 21-12, 21-14 win against Hong Kong, China1’s Wilson Halimah Zampaligre/Ng Ki Wing in Pool D and remained a strong contender to be reckoned with as they won another match in the afternoon against Japanese Niko Morikawa/Waka Yada 21-8, 21-9 in just 24 minutes. The Japanese duo will next go up against Kazakhstan2’s Angelina Popandopulo/Anastassiya Pushinka on Saturday.
Top seeds Patcharaporn Seehawong/Jidapa Bunongkhun, who scored two successive wins on Thursday, could not make it three in a row as the Thailand1’s duo went down 1-2 (21-11, 18-21, 13-15) to Malaysia1’s Ahmad Nizar Farwizah Aina/Nur Auni Maisarah Shamsulrizal.
The Thai girls will next play Kazakhstan1’s Laura Kabulbekova/Nadezhda Ivanchenko on Saturday. The Kazakh pairing had already beaten the Malaysians 21-11, 21-18 on Friday.
MATCH RESULTS
MEN
POOL RANKING
STANDING
WOMEN
POOL RANKING
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