Songkhla, Thailand, April 13, 2023 – The General Technical Meeting of the “Est Cola” AVC Beach Tour 22nd Samila Open from April 14 to 17 was held at the BP Samila Beach Hotel here on Thursday, with Thailand Volleyball Association President Mr Somporn Chaibangyang presiding and determined players from 12 countries actively attending.
Also in attendance were newly-appointed TVA Secretary General Mr Nattapong Kesapan, Technical Delegate Mr Kritsada Panaseri from Thailand and Referee Delegate Mr Jayaraman Srinivasan from India. As Mr Somporn delivered a welcome speech, Mr Kritsada and Mr Srinivasan explained all participating teams the rules and regulations of the tournament and related technical matters.
Players strutting their stuff at the Samila Beach, a white sand beach in this popular tourist town, in the four-day event consist of China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Hong Kong China, Malaysia, Singapore, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Vanuatu and hosts Thailand.
In both men’s and women’s events, all participating teams were similarly split into 8 pools comprising Pools A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H with 3 teams apiece in each pool. Teams will play pool round-robin preliminaries between April 14 and 15, with only top two teams from each pool through to the round of last 16. Quarterfinals and semifinals in both events will take place on April 16, with the third-place playoffs and final showdowns being held the following day (April 17).
During the General Technical Meeting on Thursday, all participating teams had also been informed of team seedings, pool plays and match schedule.
However, to make sure all is set and on the right track ahead of the official kickoff on Friday, the Referee Clinic was conducted on Thursday, with all referees, line judges, court assistants, scorers and working staff best-prepared for their clear duties and responsibilities in this topflight event.
This year, the AVC Beach Tour 22nd Samila Open has attracted big names including Chinese second seeds Ha Likejiang/Wu Jiaxin, who last month captured the men’s title at the season’s first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures event at Mount Maunganui Beach, the first-ever world-level tournament hosted by New Zealand.
Early this month, the Chinese duo also claimed gold in Coolangatta, Australia following their solid 2-0 victory against Thailand’s Pithak Tipjan and Poravid Taovato in the final showdown for their third back-to-back Futures gold after topping the podiums in Sohar, Oman and New Zealand.
Pithak, 24, and Poravid, 21, are top seeds at the Samila Open here. Aside from picking up silver in Australia, the Thai pairing have already made the podium for the first time in December with gold at the Subic Bay Futures in the Philippines.
Australia is sending young, but promising players to Samila Open. The Australian Junior Volleyball Tour under 21 winners Lucas Josefsen and Ben Hood claimed bronze at the last month’s Australian Beach Volleyball Tour in Wollongong after their win against compatriots Solomon Bushby and James Takken in the third-place playoff. As Josefsen and Hood are seeded 8th at Samila Open, Takken and Bushby are fifth seeds here.
Northern Mariana Islands’ Andrew Johnson and Logan Mister also proved to be a strong team to be reckoned with in this year’s Samila Open. They had already claimed silver at the 2022 Pacific Mini Games beach volleyball event at the Crowne Plaza Resort beach in Northern Mariana Islands.
In the women’s event, Thailand’s Taravadee Naraphornrapat, who teamed up with Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee to capture gold medal at the 2021 Asian Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship on home soil in Phuket, switched to partner Rumpaiperuet Numwong this time as top seeds.
Australians Jasmine Fleming and Georgia Johnson are expected to mount a strong challenge against any opponents. Early this year, the Australian duo had already won the Australian Tour Canberra and picked up silver at the World Tour Coolangatta.
China cannot be underestimated in the women’s event. Veteran Wang Xinxin, who last year partnered Zeng Jinjin to win the 2022 Budapest Futures and AVC Beach Tour Roi-Et Open in Thailand, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics with partner Xue Chen.
However, the Samila Open here sees Wang Xinxin team up with Zhu Lingdi, her new partner in 2023, as tournament third seeds, while Chinese fourth seeds Wang Fan and Dong Jie are also quite certain to make their mark in this competitive event. In 2020, Wang Fan had claimed the Asian title with partner Xia Xinyi in Udon Thani, Thailand.
Japanese second seeds Yurika Sakaguchi, who claimed two titles in 2020 with partner Chiyo Suzuki consisting of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour events in Budapest, Hungary and Ostrava, Czech Republic, teams up with Akiko Hasegawan as second seeds here, aiming to come up with good performance for their first victory together.
MEN
MAIN DRAW
POOL PLAY
MATCH SCHEDULE
WOMEN
MAIN DRAW
POOL PLAY
MATCH SCHEDULE
APRIL 14 MATCH SCHEDULE
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