The “Taichung Bank” AVC Beach Tour Penghu Open is set to kick off on Thursday, August 17 at Aimen Beach, Penghu Islands in Chinese Taipei, with a strong field of 43 teams (22 men’s and 21 women’s teams) from 13 countries across Asia vying for top honor and AVC accumulated points.
The double-gender competition, which will be held from August 17 to 20, serves as the last AVC beach volleyball event from which players’ accumulated points will be taken for consideration and decision in their qualification for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships due to take place in Tlaxcala, Mexico from October 6 to 15, 2023.
The participating countries comprise Australia, Thailand, New Zealand, Qatar, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong China, Malaysia, Macao China, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Teams have been split into 8 pools apiece in both men’s and women’s events. The men’s event sees Pools A, B, C, D, E and F feature three teams apiece, with only two teams in Pools G and H. In the women’s category, Pools A, B, C, D and E feature three teams each, with Pools F, G and H having two teams apiece.
Teams will play pool round-robin preliminaries from August 17 and 18, with only top two teams from each pool in both men’s and women’s events advancing to Round of 16 on August 19. Quarterfinals will also be held on the same day, with semifinals and finals the following day.
Placed as the top seeds in the men’s event are Australians Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher, who captured gold medal in their first international event as a pair in the Gold Coast Beach Pro Tour Futures event Coolangatta in April and a well-earned 9th position at the Beach Volleyball World Championships Rome 2022.
Players start training at the competition venue
Thailand’s Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato, bronze medallists at the 2023 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships in Fuzhou, China and the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Subic Bay Futures gold medallists in Philippines, are second seeds.
Another Thai pairing, Surin Jonglang/Dunwinit Kaewsai, are third seeds, with Kiwis Fuller Bradley/Nicklin Alani, fresh from picking up silver medal at the Wenzhou Cangnan Futures event in China a few days ago, being placed fourth seeds.
In the women’s event, Japan’s Miki Ishii/Sayaka Mizoe, who finished 4th place at this year’s Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships in China and 5th at the 2023 Volleyball Beach World Tour Itapema in Brazil, are top seeds, with compatriots Akiko Hasegawa/Yurika Sakaguchi being placed second seeds.
Australians Georgia Johnson/Jasmine Fleming, who won the first Australia National Tour event of the year in Canberra, are third seeds, with Vanuatu’s Majabelle Lawac/Toko Sherysyn, gold medallists at the women’s Division One Final of the Australia Beach Volleyball Tour in Coolangatta, Gold Coast in March, being placed fourth seeds. Another Australian duo, Jana Milutinovic/Stefanie Fejes, who landed the Coolangatta Futures title, are sixth seeds.
The main draw of the pool round-robin preliminaries in both men’s and women’s events will commence on Thursday morning.
To ensure that all is set ahead of the official kickoff on Thursday, the General Technical Meeting was held at Pescadores Resort on Wednesday, with Technical Delegate Mr Tomoki Kimishima from Japan and Referee Delegate Mr Thomas Chang from Hong Kong, China informing all participating teams of the drawing of lots, rules of the games and relevant refereeing matters. Ms Nattalida Sumdangdech, AVC Officer in charge of AVC Beach Volleyball Department, was also present in the meeting.
Later of the day, the Opening Ceremony and Welcome Dinner were held for participating teams, officials and all distinguished guests, with Chinese Taipei Volleyball Association President Mr Kong Chien-Jung presiding. Also in attendance as honorary guests were CTVBA Secretary General Mr Chang Chin-Jong and Head of Penghu County & Local organisers.
MATCH SCHEDULE
POOL RANKINGS
MEN
WOMEN
QUICK LINKS
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: www.twitter.com/AsianVolleyball
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation