Songkhla, Thailand, April 12, 2025 – After the season-opening AVC Beach Tour concluded last Monday with the 2nd Nuvali Open in City of Santa Rosa, Philippines, the annual series of professional beach volleyball tournaments organized by AVC now turns its attention to Songkhla when the Thailand’s southern historic town will host the AVC Beach Tour 24th Samila Open from April 13 to 16.
The much-anticipated four-day event at Samila Beach here has featured top men’s and women’s teams across the continent to vie for top honour in each gender, cash prizes and AVC ranking points.
A total of 61 teams (32 men’s and 29 women’s) from 20 countries are taking part in the 24th edition of the AVC Beach Tour Samila Open. They comprise Australia, Qatar, Iran, Indonesia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong China, Philippines, Macao China, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.
Qatar’s top seeds Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan, FIVB World No.13 as of April 7, 2025 and the Asia’s best pair, will lead the men’s charge. Based on their outstanding performances, continentally and globally, the prominent Qatari duo has been regarded as No.1 team coming to the Samila Open this time.
Fresh from winning gold at the recent 3rd GCC Beach Games Muscat 2025, Cherif/Ahmed made much of impact in international beach volleyball as they secured bronze at the 2024 FIVB World Tour Finals in Doha and also took bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, marking Qatar’s first-ever Olympic medal in beach volleyball. They had won several major titles in Asian competitions to their name including the Asian Championship for three times (2018, 2019 and 2022) and the Asian Games for two in a row (2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia and 2022 in Hangzhou, China).
Other big names and strong contenders in the men’s event include Australia’s second seeds and defending Asian champions D’Artagnan Potts/Jack Pearse, Indonesia’s third seeds Bintang Akbar/Sofyan Rachman Efendi, who won the country’s first-ever Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour gold last year at the Wuhan Qingshan Futures in China, and Australia’s fourth seeds Paul Burnett/Luke Ryan, gold medallists at the last week’s 2nd Nuvali Open in Philippines.
Among those who can hit the Samila sand with prominent performances are local hopefuls and Thailand’s sixth seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato, who claimed the last year’s AVC Beach Tour Taoyuan Open in Chinese Taipei and additional bronze at the 2023 Asian Championships in Fuzhou, China, seventh seeds Dunwinit Kaewsai/Banlue Nakprakhong of Thailand, fresh from taking bronze at the concluded FIVB World Beach Pro Tour Futures Samila 2025 at the same venue here.
Iran’s ninth seeds Alireza Aghajanighasab/Abbas Pourasgari, who picked up silver at the previous edition here last year and bronze at the 2024 Asian Championship in Santa Rosa, Philippines, and New Zealand’s 8th seeds Ben O’Dea/John McManaway, who sealed the victory at the recent FIVB World Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta, are also ready to start their dream journey here.
In the women’s event, Australia’s top seeds Stefanie Fejes/Jasmine Fleming set their sights on back-to-back AVC Beach Tour titles following their successful outing in 2nd Nuvali Open last week in Philippines. However, strong opponents who can be a thorn in their flesh include compatriots and second seeds Elizabeth Alchin/Georgia Johnson, bronze medallists at both the 2025 World Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta and the last week’s AVC Beach Tour 2nd Nuvali Open, New Zealand’s third seeds Shaunna Polley/Olivia MacDonald, winners at this year’s GJ Gardner Homes NZ Beach Tour and silver medallists at the 2nd Nuvali Open.
Others unable to be underestimated in the women’s event can be China’s fifth seeds Yan Xu/Zhou Mingli, winners at the 2024 Wuhan Qingshan Futures, Japan’s 11th seeds Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto, fresh from claiming silver at the concluded World Beach Pro Tour Futures Samila here, China’s 8th seeds Yu Tong/Jiang Kaiyue, who took bronze at the 2025 Futures Samila, as well as local best and Thailand’s fourth seeds Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee/Taravadee Naraphornrapat, who secured gold medal at the 2021 Asian Championships on home soil in Phuket and additional silver medal at the 2023 Asian Championships in Fuzhou, China.
On Saturday, teams practiced up to each schedule. Referee Clinic and General Technical Meeting were also held on the same day, with Mayor of Songkhla Municipality Mr Wanchai Parinyasiri presiding to deliver the welcome address.
Kritsada
Technical Delegate Mr Kritsada Panaseri from Thailand informed all participating teams of the technical and other related matters, while Referee Delegate Mr Wang Leijun from China explained about the match protocol and the rules of the game. Ms Nattalida Sumdangdech from AVC Beach Volleyball Department also joined the stage during the meeting.
Wang
Nattalida
Teams in both men’s and women’s events were drawn into 8 pools for pool round-robin preliminaries from April 13 to 14, with only top two teams from each pool progressing. The pool play will be followed by the single-elimination knockout rounds comprising the round of 16 and quarterfinals on April 15 and semifinals and finals on April 16.
Mr Wanchai, Thailand Volleyball Association President Mr Somporn Chaibangyang and Mr Songsak Chareonpong, former AVC Referee Committee chairman, jointly presented all participating teams the competition uniforms as well as colorful floral shirts to be worn during the Songkran Festival.
Meanwhile, all participating teams were invited to join the Songkran Festival at the BP Samila Beach Hotel on April 13 from 5.45pm local time. April 13, which is the first day of the AVC Beach Tour 24th Samila Open, is called “Maha Songkran Day,” meaning the day marking the end of the old year in Thailand.
Songkran is traditionally celebrated every year on the Thai New Year between April 13 and 15. It is true that the modern aspect of Songkran hinges upon the splashing of water in celebration of the so-called Thai New Year, However, there exists a very important cultural and religious significance that underpins the vibrant revelry known as the world’s wettest and wildest water fight. And Songkran 2025 looks set to offer never-ending funs to Thai people and all participating teams in the AVC Beach Tour 24th Samila Open in particular.
Players splash water to each other in previous edition of the Samila Open
POOLS
MATCH SCHEDULE
MEN
WOMEN
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