Songkhla, Thailand, April 14, 2024 – Hosts Thailand and Australia ruled the roost on a much-anticipated Day 2 of the AVC Beach Tour 23rd Samila Open with five pairings apiece through to the Monday’s round of 16, as Australians Ben Hood/D’Artagnan Potts unfortunately crashed out of the men’s event and all top 10 seeds cruised their ways to the women’s elimination stage.
On Sunday, three men’s pairings including top seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato and two women’s duos of the host nation made it to the round of 16.
Powerhouses Australia secured two men’s teams including third seeds Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher and three women’s pairings spearheaded by top seeds Stefanie Fejes/Jana Milutinovic, fresh from winning the last week’s AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open in Philippines.
Among those advancing in the men’s event were three teams from Thailand, two apiece from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Iran and China and one team from Qatar, while the women’s round of 16 see three teams from Australia, two teams each from Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Vanuatu and one team apiece from Kazakhstan, Hong Kong China, Macao China, New Zealand and Indonesia join the fray.
Top teams survived scorching heat with a maximum temperature typically around 33-37 degrees Celsius at the Samila Beach on Sunday to power past their tough opponents in the pool play and stay on course when the competitive competition has reached the round of 16 on Monday morning and quarterfinals later in the afternoon.
In the thrilling men’s event, unbeaten top seeds Pithak, 25, and Poravid, 23, keep the Thai flag flying high as the last year’s Fuzhou-hosted Asian Championships bronze medallists remain unbeaten in pool play after an impressive 2-0 (22-20, 21-16) win against Akbar Bintang/Efendi Sofyan for a perfect sweep in Pool A, while the Indonesian duo ended their preliminary matches in second place.
However, with only top two teams in each pool advancing, both teams booked their berths in the round of 16
Pithak and Poravid will next go up against Kittituch Khomkham/Phichakon Narathon in the Monday’s all-Thais round of 16 encounter. Kittituch/Phichakon stormed past Qataris Adem Saber Lajili/Nour Mondher Othmen in a totally lopsided battle 21-8, 21-4 in just 24 minutes to finish second in Pool H on Sunday.
For Bintang/Sofyan, an uphill task awaits them in round of 16 when the Indonesians will face off against China’s second seeds and reigning champions Wu Jiaxin/Ha Likejiang, who outclassed Kazakhstan’s Nurdos Aldash/Kirill Gurin 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) to top Pool B on undefeated streak.
Australia’s third seeds Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher, who claimed gold at the 2024 Beach Pro Tour Futures Mollymook, proved too strong for Dylan Hiroki Kurokawa/Kosuke Fukushima to send the Japanese packing in one-sided affair 21-7, 21-6 for the top spot in Pool C. The Aussies will next fight it out with Iranians Abolhassan Khakizadeh/Abolhamed Mirzaali in round of 16.
Dylan/Fukushima, who finished second in Pool C, will have to go all-out in their next phase as they are due to challenge Iranians Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab, who captured the title with remarkable unbeaten record at last week’s AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open in Philippines. The Iranians topped Pool D after 2-0 (25-23, 21-14) blitz over Qataris Ahmed Tijan/Ihab Zaki Mohamed in their last prelim match on Sunday.
Pool E was dominated by Australian fifth seeds Paul Burnett/Jack Pearse, who won their first Beach Pro Tour Futures event together last November in Geelong apart from picking up silver at the 2024 BPT season-opener in Mollymook and BPT Futures Coolangatta last month. In their last match of the pool play on Sunday, Burnett/Pearse demolished Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Yakovlev/Sergey Bogatu, bronze medallists at the last year’s Hangzhou-hosted Asian Games in China, 2-0 (21-15, 21-16).
In round of 16, Burnett/Pearse will play Chinese Li Zhuoxin/Liu Chuanyong, who finished joint fifth place on home soil at the last year’s BPT Futures in Qidong.
New Zealand’s sixth seeds Thomas Reid/John McManaway dominated Pool F after consecutive three wins including a sensational 2-0 (21-10, 21-16) triumph over Japanese 11th seeds Takumi Takahashi/Jumpei Ikeda on Sunday.
The unbeaten Kiwis will next be pitted against Qataris Ahmed/Ihab in round of 16, while the Japanese duo, who finished second position in Pool F, will take on another New Zealand’s pairing, ninth seeds Bradley Fuller/Ben O’Dea, on Monday.
The formidable Kiwis captured the top spot in Pool H following three wins in a row including the hotly-contested 22-20, 21-23, 15-8 win against Ben Hood/D’Artagnan Potts in their last prelim encounter on Sunday. Following two losses in Pool H, the Australian eighth seeds dropped to third place to miss the cut for the round of 16.
Thailand’s Surin Jongklang/Dunwinit Kaewsai showcased their talents to cruise to round of 16 unbeaten in Pool G. On Sunday, the Thailand’s seventh seeds beat Chinese Li Zhuoxin/Liu Chuangyong in hard-fought two-set thriller 21-19, 22-20 to next fight it out with Indonesians Yosi Firnanda/Danangsyah Pribad, second place in Pool B.
Meanwhile, all top 10 seeds in the women’s event including Australian top seeds Stefanie Fejes/Jana Milutinovic stay in contention for the eventual title.
Promising Stefanie Fejes/Jana Milutinovic, fresh from claiming gold at the last week’s AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open in Philippines, topped Pool A after spending only 19 minutes in crushing Qataris Damla Yagmur/Maha Al-Kuwari 2-0 (21-3, 21-8) in their last prelim match on Sunday. The Aussies will next go up against Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto in Monday’s round of 16.
The Japanese paring on Sunday stormed past Qataris Leyla Mohammad Bahmanzadeh/Sheqaf Ismail 2-0 (21-3, 21-3) in 19 minutes to finish second in Pool D, which was dominated by New Zealand’s fourth seeds Alice Zeimann/Shaunna Polley. The 2022 Asian winners handed Leyla/Sheqaf the second loss in Pool D after 2-0 (21-2, 21-3) win against the Qataris in a completely one-sided battle in 19 minutes.
Kiwis Zeimann/Polley will next take on seventh seeds Sherysyn Toko/Loti Joe of Vanuatu in round of 16. Toko/Joe finished second in Pool G after going down 0-2 to Pool G winners unbeaten Desi Ratnasari/Nur Sari Atika. The Indonesian 10th seeds will meet Vietnamese Lan Chau Ngoc/Hanh Mai Hong in the Monday’s elimination stage.
Australian second seeds Jasmine Fleming/Georgia Johnson and sixth seeds Tara Phillips/Elizabeth Alchin also fared well to top Pool B and Pool F respectively, with the former trouncing Vietnamese Lan/Hanh 2-0 (21-11, 21-16) and the latter powering past Malaysians Qariesya Nur Azwa/Aishah Iskandar Noor 2-0 (21-10, 21-8).
Japan’s two teams entered the Monday’s knockout stage to keep their hopes in the Samila Open alive. Third seeds Asami Shiba/Saki Maruyama topped Pool C with 2-0 (21-12, 21-9) victory against Vietnamese Dinh Thi My Nga/Ly Ho Tuyet Minh in their last prelim match on Sunday. Another Japanese duo, 13th seeds Ren/Non, finished second in Pool D.
Vanuatu’s fifth seeds Linline Matauatu/Majabelle Lawac, winners at the recent Queensland Beach Volleyball Tour Finals in Brisbane, finished on top of Pool E with a perfect run including an exciting 2-0 (21-15, 22-20) win against Thailand’s Varangkhana Sogalee/Somruedee Koedkaew in their last prelim encounter on Sunday.
Also advancing to round of 16 as Pool H winners were Thailand’s eighth seeds Patcharaporn Seehawong/Samitta Simarongnam, who bounced back from the first-set loss to beat Indonesians Bernadette Shella Herdanti/Febbry Uarri 16-21, 27-25, 15-12 in exhausting 53 minutes. The Thai duo will face Hong Kong China’s To Wingtung/To Wingman, who finished second in Pool F, in the knockout phase on Monday.
Kazakhstan’s ninth seeds Laura Kabulbekova/Nadezhda Ivanchenko finished second in Pool H to join Patcharaporn/Samitta in the round of 16.
Another Thai pair, 14th seeds Rumpaipruet Numwong/Veeradakittikarn Wirakornkhayatimat, lost twice in Pool C to finish third in the Pool and miss the cut for the round of 16.
On Monday, round of 16 matches in both men’s and women’s events commence at 8.30am local time, followed by the quarterfinals from 2pm onwards.
MATCH RESULTS
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MEN’S POOLS
WOMEN’S POOLS
MATCH SCHEDULE
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FINAL STANDINGS
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