Top seeds Pithak/Poravid are among two Thai pairings to get through to men’s semifinals
Two Thai pairings including top seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato overcame scorching heat at the world-class Nuvali Sand Courts by Ayala Land to power their way into the men’s semifinals of the “Smart” AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open in Philippines’ City of Santa Rosa, with top four seeds, two teams apiece from Australia and Japan, set to lock horns in women’s semifinal encounters.
The temperature on a Summer Saturday at the competition venue surged up to 33 degrees Celsius, making it generally more uncomfortable for players and court officials alike. However, the energy-sapping heat failed to dampen top teams’ enthusiasm and determination to win their tough matches for their semifinal slots.
In the men’s quarterfinals on Saturday, Thailand’s gold-medal hopefuls Pithak, 25, and Poravid, 23, lived up to their top seeds status. The last year’s Asian Championships bronze medallists in Fuzhou, China survived a huge scare from formidable Akbar Bintang/Efendi Sofyan to narrowly edge past the Indonesian 15th seeds with tie-break win 21-18, 19-21, 15-13.
The Thai duo, who had claimed their first Beach Pro Tour medal in 2022 with a Subic Bay Futures gold in Philippines, will next battle it out with Ben Hood/D’Artagnan Potts in the Sunday morning’s semifinals. The Australian fourth seeds, who took silver at the last month’s BPT Futures Mt Maunganui in New Zealand, struggled to beat Japan’s sixth seeds Yusuke Ishijima Gottsu/Kensuke Shoji 21-19, 18-21, 15-11 in exhausting 53 minutes in the quarterfinals.
Pithak and Poravid did it in memorable fashion earlier in the morning round of 16, showcasing their prowess with swift counter-attacks and efficient blocks in a see-saw affair against Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Yakovlev/Sergey Bogatu, who claimed bronze at the last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games in China, to pull off an incredible win in epic tiebreak 29-27, 17-21, 16-14.
Unlike the Thai duo, Australians Hood/Potts had an easier job in round of 16 to cruise past Japan’s ninth seeds Dylan Hiroki Kurokawa/Kosuke Fukushima 2-0 (21-18, 21-9) in 36 minutes.
Another Thai pairing, Surin Jongklang/Dunwinit Kaewsai, who finished a well-earned fifth place at last year’s BPT Futures Wenzhou Cangnan in China and AVC Beach Tour Penghu Open in Chinese Taipei, made their country proud with tiebreak win 21-18, 15-21, 15-12 in their strenuous quarterfinal clash against gallant Iranians Mirzaali Abolhamed/Khakizadeh Abolhassan. Earlier, Surin/Dunwinit sent Chinese fifth seeds Li Zhuoxin/Liu Chuanyong packing 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) in 36 minutes in round of 16.
In the do-or-die semifinals on Sunday, the Thai third seeds Surin/Dunwinit will fight it out with another Iranian duo, 11th seeds Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab, who pulled off a stunning 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) upset win against Paul Burnett/Jack Pearse. The Australian second seeds took silver at the BPT season-opener in Mollymook and BPT Futures Coolangatta last month to their name.
Meanwhile, the women’s semifinals in the Sunday morning turned out to be a thrilling Australia-Japan duel, with Australian top seeds Stefanie Fejes/Jana Milutinovic set to clash with Japan’s fourth seeds Suzuka Hashimoto/Reika Murakami and Australian second seeds Jasmine Fleming/Georgia Johnson to be pitted against Japanese third seeds Asami Shiba/Saki Maruyama.
The first semifinal clash between Fejes/Milutinovic and Suzuka/Reika will be a remake of the recent two final showdowns. The Aussies had already beaten the Japanese duo twice at the Australian Beach Tour in Mollymook and Beach Pro Tour Futures Mollymook in February to be crowned the eventual champions.
As Suzuka/Reika set their sights on a revenge match this time, the Australians don’t want to lose their grip, but hope to continue their winning momentum after claiming six tournaments in a row this summer including the back-to-back BPT Futures Coolangatta, Beach Pro Tour Futures Mollymook, the Mahindra Australian Beach Volleyball Championships and the Pacific Games for Australia late last year.
In the quarterfinals earlier, Fejes/Milutinovic spent 35 minutes in disposing of Thailand’s Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert/Charanrutwadee Patcharamainaruebhorn 2-0 (21-14, 21-13). Woranatchayakorn/Charanrutwadee beat Rumpaipruet Numwong/Veeradakittikarn Wirakornkhayatimat 2-0 by forfeit in the all-Thais round of 16 match earlier on Saturday morning.
To make the cut for the Sunday’s semifinals against Fejes/Milutinovic, Suzuka/Reika demolished New Zealanders Danielle Quigley/Olivia MacDonald 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) in 38 minutes. The Japanese duo had already beaten another New Zealand’s pairing, Katie Sadlier/Meile-Rose Green, 2-0 (21-11, 21-14) in round of 16.
The second semifinal is set to be another intense Japan-Australia clash between Shiba/Maruyama, bronze medallists at the last year’s BPT Futures Seoul in Korea, and Fleming/Johnson, who claimed back-to-back bronze medals in the Australian Beach Tour Mollymook and the BPT Futures Mollymook in February.
En route to the semifinals, Fleming/Johnson outperformed Tara Phillips/Elizabeth Alchin 2-0 (22-20, 21-8) in the all-Australians quarterfinals, while Shiba/Maruyama eliminated Indonesians Desi Ratnasari/Nur Sari Atika 2-0 (21-18, 21-11) in the same round.
The Sunday’s semifinals will commence at 8.30am in the men’s event and 9.30am in the women’s competition, followed by the third-place playoffs and the final showdowns in the afternoon.
MATCH RESULTS
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WOMEN
MATCH SCHEDULE
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WOMEN
FINAL RANKINGS
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WOMEN
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