Phuket, Thailand, November 22, 2021 – FIVB World No.1 and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Ahmed Tijan/Cherif Younousse from Qatar are set to take on Thailand’s Poravid Taovato/Pithak Tipjan in their first clash at the Centre Court on Tuesday as AVC unveiled the 2021 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships matchday schedule following the team briefing and drawing of lots ceremony at Angsana Laguna Hotel here on Monday evening.
From left, Kritsada, Narong, Shanrit and Mariko
Phuket Governor Mr Narong Woonciew, AVC Executive Director Mr Shanrit Wongprasert and Thailand Volleyball Association President Mr Somporn Chaibangyang jointly presided over the General Technical Meeting, with Mr Ravi Chandran, Chief Executive Officer Laguna Resorts & Hotels, in attendance as guests of honours.
Kritsada, Narong and Shanrit take center stage
Strict restrictions have also been implemented to reduce the risk of infections and prevent COVID-19 while organising the Asian Championships, with only one each from participating teams allowed to attend the Monday’s team briefing wearing mask. This was to ensure social distancing and reduce density during the meeting.
Shanrit delivers opening speech
In his opening speech, Mr Shanrit, on behalf of AVC President Mrs Rita Subowo, expressed his sincere gratitude to Phuket City and its citizens for hosting the 2021 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships and simultaneously welcomed all participants to the double-gender Championships from November 23 to 27, 2021 at Bang Tao Beach in Phuket. Finally, he wished them great success in the five-day contest, safety and a nice stay in Thailand and Phuket in particular.
Welcome speech by Narong
Mr Narong said Phuket City and its citizens are very pleased and honoured that AVC and TVA have entrusted them with the 2021 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships and mentioned about the Phuket Sandbox programme.
Participating team players attend the Monday’s team briefing and drawing of lots ceremony
“It has been two years since the COVID-19 outbreak began and spread around the world. However, as the situation is getting much better this year, Phuket became the first Thai province that kicked off a successful tourism-promotion “Phuket Sandbox” scheme which allows all fully-vaccinated travellers to enter Phuket without undergoing mandatory quarantine and enjoy worry-free doing activities in Phuket under the “New Normal,” said the Phuket Governor in his welcome speech.
Participating team players during the team briefing
“Within the secure Sandbox program, we ensure that all participants will be safe from COVID-19 throughout the competition period. And we hope you will be immensely impressed with our beautiful beaches, stunning scenery, and satisfied with the preparation that we all have put efforts in order to run these championships smoothly in all aspects,” he added.
Ravi Chandran welcomes all participants
Mr Somporn took this opportunity to present souvenirs to participating teams, officials and the Phuket Governor.
Somporn presents souvenirs to participating team players, officials and Phuket Governor
After that, Technical Delegate Mr Kritsada Panaseri from Thailand and Referee Delegate Ms Mariko Satomi from Japan jointly explained about the rules of the game to be applied for use in the Championships and match protocol before jointly drawing lots to determine the men’s and women’s pool compositions and matchday schedule.
Kritsada and Mariko conduct drawing of lots
The men’s teams were divided into eight pools (A-H) of three teams apiece, but only Pool H features two teams, while in the women’s events, teams will be split into four pools (A-D) of five teams each, but only Pool D has four teams.
In both categories, all participating teams will play pool round-robin preliminaries, with only top two teams in the men’s event and top four teams in the women’s division advancing to the single elimination round.
According to the men’s draw results on Monday, top seeds THA1’s Banlue Nakprakhong/Surin Jongklang, KAZ3 and IRI3 are in Pool A, while Pool B comprises second seeds QAT1’s Ahmed Tijan/Cherif Younousse, KAZ2 and THA4. Third seeds AUS1’s Christopher McHugh/Paul Burnett, SGP and PHI1 are in Pool C, with fourth seeds JPN1’s Yoshiumi Hasegawa/Takashi Tsuchiya, KAZ1 and SRI1 in Pool D.
Pool E consists of fifth seeds JPN2’s Takumi Takahashi/Hiroshi Murakami, THA3 and AUS3, while sixth seeds AUS2’s Maximilian Guehrer/Mark Nicolaidis, IRI2 and SRI2 are in Pool F and seventh seeds IRI1’s Abolhamed Mirzaali/Alireza Aghajanighasab, THA2 and PHI2 in Pool G respectively. Pool H features eighth seeds QAT2’s Mahmoud Ahmed/Saifeddin El Majid and JPN3.
The women’s draw results saw top seeds THA1’s Varapatsorn Radarong/Tanarattha Udomchavee, AUS1, KAZ1, PHI2 and SRI2 in Pool A, with second seeds JPN1’s Miki Ishii/Sayaka Mizoe, THA3, AUS2, KAZ2 and SGP2 in Pool B. Pool C comprises third seeds JPN2’s Akiko Hasegawa/Yurika Sakaguchi, NZL, SGP1, THA4 and SRI1, while Pool D features fourth seeds THA2’s Taravadee Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee, JPN3, PHI1 and AUS3.
Qatari players join the team briefing
The women’s main draw will start at 8am Bangkok time, with THA1’s Varapatsorn/Tanarattha taking on SRI2’s Madegedara D. Bandara/Hashini M.P. Manis Hewage in Pool A at the Centre Court, followed by the second match in the same pool between AUS1’S Phoebe Bell/Georgia Johnson and PHI2’s Floremel Rodriguez/Genesa Jane Eslapor.
Thai men’s players pay attention to the team briefing
The men’s event will take place in the afternoon session, with QAT1’s Cherif/Ahmed playing THA4’s Poravid/Pithak in Pool B at the Centre Court at 2pm. AUS1’s McHugh/Burnett are due to take on PHI1’s Jude Garcia/Anthony Lemuel Jr. Arbasto.
MATCH SCHEDULE
PARTICIPATING TEAM PLAYERS
Related links of AVC
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: www.twitter.com/AsianVolleyball
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation