The men’s top three seeds and all women’s pool winners get through round of 16 unscathed on Friday, as Australia, Thailand and Japan reached their remarkable extent at the “Smart” AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open to dominate the action-packed Day 2 at the world-class Nuvali Sand Courts by Ayala Land in City of Santa Rosa, Philippines.
As strong teams fought their ways in pool play on Friday to secure their round of 16 spots, three teams apiece from Australia, Thailand and Japan advanced to the women’s elimination round, with two teams from New Zealand and one team each from Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Macao China, Hong Kong China and hosts Philippines joining the fray in the knockout stage.
In the men’s event, two teams each from Australia, Thailand, Japan, Iran, Philippines, Kazakhstan and Indonesia made the cut for round of 16, while Hong Kong China and China had one team apiece in that round. The electrifying round of 16 in both men’s and women’s events will take place on Saturday morning, followed by the afternoon quarterfinals.
On Friday, teams competed in their pools to vie for two berths on offer in each pool and their slots in Saturday’s round of 16. Australian top seeds Stefanie Fejes/Jana Milutinovic, who had already won six tournaments in a row this summer including the back-to-back Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta on home soil, had their job in Pool A well done with a sensational 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) win against Thailand’s 16th-seeds Rumpaipruet Numwong/Veeradakittikarn Wirakornkhayatimat.
However, with top two teams in each pool through to round of 16, both sides automatically advanced.
As only two teams were competing in Pool B, Australian second seeds Jasmine Fleming/Georgia Johnson and New Zealand’s Katie Sadlier/Meile-Rose Green also made it to round of 16. Jasmine Fleming/Georgia Johnson, who claimed bronze at BTP Futures Mollymook last month, topped Pool B following their speedy one-sided battle 2-0 (21-12, 21-7) just in 29 minutes against the Kiwis.
Japanese third seeds Asami Shiba/Saki Maruyama made a clean sweep in Pool C, with Desi Ratnasari/Nur Sari Atika in second place.
The Indonesian duo struggled to beat Kazakhstan’s Anastassiya Ukolova/Mariya Peressetskaya in hard-fought three-setter 21-13, 17-21, 15-12 on Friday, while Shiba/Maruyama outplayed the Indonesians 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) for two wins in a row.
Pool D was dominated by fourth seeds Suzuka Hashimoto/Reika Murakami, silver medallists at Beach Pro Tour Futures Mollymook and bronze medallists at BPT Futures Coolangatta. The Japanese pairing had an easy job on Friday to crush Thailand’s Patcharaporn Seehawong/Samitta Simarongnam 2-0 (21-11, 21-11) for consecutive two wins.
However, the Thai duo also joined Suzuka/Reika in round of 16 following their 2-0 (21-12, 21-10) shutout of Singaporeans Chong Eliza/Ang Huiying.
Promising Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert/Charanrutwadee Patcharamainaruebhorn captured the top spot in Pool E following two wins in succession. The Thailand’s fifth seeds on Friday brushed off Wong Manching/Tsang Ngokling 2-0 (21-15, 21-10) for two consecutive wins in the pool. The team from Hong Kong China did not make the cut for the next round as they had already suffered their first loss earlier 1-2 (21-17, 20-22, 12-15) to Macao China’s Leong Onieng/Law Wengsam.
New Zealand’s sixth seeds Danielle Quigley/Olivia MacDonald topped Pool F following two successive wins including a Friday’s convincing 2-0 (21-18, 21-13) triumph over Hong Kong China’s To Wingtung/To Wingman, who also advanced to round of 16, thanks to their 2-0 (21-10, 21-10) win against Malaysians Mashitah Muhammad Nasir/Auni Shamsulrizal.
Australian seventh seeds Tara Phillips/Elizabeth Alchin stayed atop Pool G with unbeaten records which included the exceptional 2-0 (21-10, 21-15) win against Riko Tsujimura/Takemi Nishibori on Friday. However, the Japanese tandem progressed to the next round after a completely lopsided affair 21-5, 21-4 against Filipinas Alexa Polidario/Jenny Gaviola.
In Pool H, Kazakhstan’s ninth seeds Laura Kabulbekova/Nadezhda Ivanchenko clinched the top spot with back-to-back victories on Friday. The Kazakh pairing powered past Singaporeans Chan Tin Wing/Soh Cecilia Huichin 2-0 (21-10, 21-9) in the morning and continued their brilliant form following their 2-0 (21-9, 21-19) defeat of Genesa Jane Eslapor/Mary Klymence Orillaneda in the afternoon. Nonetheless, the Filipinas saved the day for the host side as they had already beaten the Singaporeans on Thursday to join the Kazakhs in Saturday’s round of 16.
At least one Thai team will make it to the quarterfinals for sure when fifth seeds Woranatchayakorn/Charanrutwadee will take on Rumpaipruet/Veeradakittikarn in the all-Thais round of 16 affair. Another Thai team, Patcharaporn/Samitta will go up against second seeds Fleming/Johnson from Australia also in round of 16.
Other matches in round of 16 comprise Australian top seeds Fejes/Milutinovic taking on To Wingtung/To Wingman from Hong Kong China, Japanese 10th seeds Riko/Takemi challenging sixth seeds Quigley/MacDonald from New Zealand, Japan’s fourth seeds Suzuka/Reika meeting New Zealand’s Sadlier/Green, Kazakhstan’s Kabulbekova/Ivanchenko fighting it out with Indonesians Desi/Nur Atika, Japanese third seeds Shiba/Maruyama facing Leong Onieng/Law Wengsam from Macao China and seventh seeds Phillips/Alchin from Australia playing Filipinas Eslapor/Orillaneda.
In the men’s event, top three seeds had their perfect runs in pool play to top their respective pools. Thailand’s top seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato, who had already claimed their first BPT gold medal in Subic Bay Futures last year in Philippines and bronze medallists at the last year’s Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships in Fuzhou, China, spent 32 minutes in demolishing Wong Puilam/Lau Cheukyin from Hong Kong China 2-0 (21-10, 21-13). However, with only two teams testing their mettle in Pool A, both sides advanced to round of 16.
However, it’s a tough going for Pithak/Poravid in round of 16 as the Thai duo will next challenge Kazakhstan’s seventh seeds Dmitriy Yakovlev/Sergey Bogatu, who took bronze medal at the last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games in China. The Kazakh pairing finished second in Pool G following their mixed fortunes in the pool, with their 1-2 loss to Iranians Mirzaali Abolhamed/Abolhassan Khakizadeh earlier on Thursday and a hard-fought 2-1 (21-15, 22-24, 16-14) win against Thailand’s Netitorn Muneekul/Wachirawit Muadpha the following day.
Australian second seeds Paul Burnett/Jack Pearse topped Pool B after two consecutive wins in the pool including a Friday’s 2-0 (21-12, 21-16) win against Akbar Bintang/Efendi Sofyan. The Indonesians also entered round of 16 following their 2-0 win against New Zealand’s James Sadlier/Juraj Krajci earlier on Thursday.
Another Thai duo, third seeds Surin Jongklang/Dunwinit Kaewsai, dominated Pool C with two consecutive wins including a convincing 2-0 (21-16, 21-8) victory against Indonesians Pribadi Danangsyah /Firnanda Yosi on Friday. The Indonesian tandem also secured their berth in round of 16 after 2-0 triumph over Malaysians Looi Kaixu/Ler Weichun on Thursday.
Advancing as pool winners were Australian fourth seeds Ben Hood/Potts D’Artagnan in Pool D, 12th seeds Nurdos Aldash/kirill Gurin from Kazakhstan in Pool E, 11th seeds Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab and Mirzaali/Abolhassan, both from Iran, respectively in Pool F and Pool G and Philippines’ Buytrago/Varga in Pool H.
The Saturday’s round of 16 encounters see Thailand’s top seeds Pithak/Poravid challenge Kazakhstan’s Yakovlev/Bogatu, sixth seeds Yusuke Ishijima/Kensuke Shoji from Japan battle it out with Kazakhstan’s Aldashi/Gurin, Japanese Dylan Hiroki Kurokawa/Kosuke Fukushima face off against Australians Hood/Potts, Indonesians Bintang/Sofyan take on Philippines’ James Buytrago/Rancel Varga and Iranians Pourasgari/Aghajani play Hong Kong China’s Wong Puilam/Lau Cheukyin.
The remaining three matches consist of Indonesians Danang/Yosi going up against Australian second seeds Burnett/Pearse, Thailand’s third seeds Surin Jongklang/Dunwinit Kaewsai fighting it out with Chinese fifth seeds Li Zhouxin/Liu Chuanyong and Iranians Mirzaali/Abolhassan facing off against Philippines’ Abdilla Alnakran/Andre Joseph Pareja.
Among the men’s top 10 seeds who suffered an early exit from the four-day event were 10th seeds Netitorn/Wachirawit from Thailand. Also failing to make the cut for round of 16 were Japanese Nassim Malki/Ryuichi Adachi, Sadlier/Krajci from New Zealand, Indonesians Ardana Ketut/Hermawan Yogi, Looi/Ler from Malaysia, Singaporeans Eng Cheng Feng Renfred/Sasikumar Ranjiv and Macao China’s Cheong Houwang/Ng Loilong.
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