Josefsen/Hood and Fleming/Fejes give Australia a clean sweep of men’s and women’s titles
Australia stamped its domination over the 2023 Asian U21 Beach Volleyball Championships, with Lucas Josefsen/Ben Hood capturing the men’s title and Jasmine Fleming/Stefanie Fejes being crowned women’s champions after the Sunday’s finals at Ban Nong Ya Ma Community School in Roi Et, Thailand.
For Fejes, it was her second gold medal at this event. In 2021 in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, Fejes teamed up with Alisha Stevens to hand Australia the unprecedented women’s gold medal. At that time, Fleming partnered Jesse Mann to pick up bronze medal.
Fleming also joined force with Georgia Johnson to finish joint 9th at the recent Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championship in Pangtan, China, while Fejes playing with Jana Milutinovic to come in joint 17th there.
On Sunday, the final day of the Asian U21 Championships in Roi Et, three home teams advanced to the morning’s semifinals, but none of them could make it to the eventual victory.
In the first semifinal clash, top seeds Patcharaporn Seehawong and Jidapa Bunongkhun found too strong for 13th seeds Suchinna Choemphun and Tassanee Chongyoklang to storm past the lower-ranked compatriots 21-14, 21-16 in 36 minutes.
Australian second seeds Fleming and Fejes pulled off a comfortable 21-16, 21-17 win against Thailand’s 10th seeds Salinda Mungkhon and Samitta Simarongnam in the second encounter.
Against Thais Patcharaporn/Jidapa in the final clash, the Australian duo fared much better, thanks to the great experience both of them had gained from the high level Asian style volleyball at the recent Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships in China and good acquaintance from competing in the Asian heat.
Fleming and Fejes stunned the Thai gold-medal hopefuls Patcharaporn and Jidapa 21-13, 24-22 in 39 minutes in the highly-anticipated showdown to be crowned the women’s champions, the second gold in Australia’s history.
Earlier, Salinda and Samitta had to be content with bronze medal after powering past Suchinna and Tassanee 21-16, 21-17 in the all-Thais third place playoff match.
Meanwhile, after having great success on the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour early this year and having continued their partnership in recent months, second seeds Josefsen and Hood proved the strongest team in the Asian U21 Championships in Roi Et following 21-15, 21-14 rout of Kazakhstan’s fourth seeds Ivailo Todorov and Klim Ryukhov in the men’s showdown on Sunday.
It was also the Australia’s second men’s gold medal in the Asian U21 Championships. In 2017 here in Roi Et, Paul Burnett and Marcus Ferguson became the first Australian pairing to capture the men’s title in the championships.
In the third-place playoff match earlier, Chinese 15th seeds Xu Zongqi and Zhou Yongji brushed off Lebanese 11th seeds Abi Karam Omar/El Chabib Hadi 21-15, 21-13 to return with bronze medal.
The awards presentation and closing ceremony were held shortly after the end of the women’s final, with distinguished guests attending. Thailand Volleyball Association President Mr Somporn Chaibangyang presided over the ceremony, with Technical Delegate Mr Kritsada Panaseri from Thailand and Referee Delegate Mr Nader Ansari from Iran in attendance.
Australians Lucas Josefsen and Ben Hood captured the men’s title to be presented with gold medal, while Ivailo Todorov and Klim Ryukhov from Kazakhstan took silver medal. Chinese Xu Zongqi and Zhou Yongji claimed bronze medal.
Australians Josefsen/Hood
Kazakhs Todorov/Ryukhov
Chinese Xu/Zhou
Australia also sealed the deal in the women’s event, with Jasmine Fleming and Stefanie Fejes clinched gold medal. Thailand made a two-three finish, with Patcharaporn Seehawong/Jidapa Bunongkhun taking silver and Salinda Mungkhon and Samitta Simarongnam claiming bronze.
Australians Fleming/Fejes
Thailand’s Patcharaporn/Jidapa
Salinda/Samitta
Men’s podium
Women’s podium
Meanwhile, the four-day championships served as the Asian qualification for the FIVB U21 Beach Volleyball World Championships, with the top 5 teams (NFs) in the Asian U21 Championships getting directly into the main draw of the World Championships and the next 4 teams (NFs) entering the qualifying actions of the world meet at the same venue.
Teams (NFs) qualified through this Continental Quota for the 2023 FIVB U21 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Roi Et, Thailand between November 7 and 12, 2023 had been confirmed at the end of the Asian U21 Beach Volleyball Championships in Roi Et on Sunday.
The Men’s Main Draw (5 NFs) features Australia, Kazakhstan, China, Lebanon and Iran, while the Women’s Main Draw (5 NFs) comprises Australia, China, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Regarding the Qualification Tournament quota, the list of 4 teams (NFs) per Continental Confederation in both men’s and women’s events will be approved later by AVC Beach Volleyball Committee.
MEN
MATCH RESULTS
FINAL RANKING
WOMEN
MATCH RESULTS
FINAL RANKING
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