Japan’s Maruyama/Ishii play Tsang/Wong from Hong Kong, China
Phu Yen, Vietnam, April 25, 2025 – Japan’s Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto, fresh from winning the 24th Samila Open in Songkhla, Thailand on April 16, made a difficult start in the AVC Women’s Beach Tour Phu Yen Open, as Thailand’s veterans Tanarattha Udomchavee/Rumpaipruet Numwong fell short to home pairing.
A total of 22 teams from 10 countries have begun their journeys to be crowned the champions at the AVC Women’s Beach Tour Phu Yen Open. The women’s only event got underway on Friday at L’Aurora Phu Yen Beach here, with Mr Nguyen Thai Binh, Head of the Beach Volleyball Committee of the Volleyball Federation of Vietnam, and Mr Le Hoang Phu, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Phu Yen Province, jointly presiding over the opening ceremony in the morning.
Ren/Non, who claimed silver in the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Songkhla Futures at Samila Beach on April 11, four days ahead of their remarkable victory at the AVC Beach Tour 24th Samila Open at the same venue, struggled in their opening Pool E match against Dinh Thi My Nga/Thach Thi Thuy to beat the Vietnamese duo in epic tie-breaker 14-21, 21-9, 16-14.
The Japan’s 9th seeds will next go up against the Thailand’s 5th seeds and 2021 Asian champions Taravadee Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee, who spent only 27 minutes in demolishing the Vietnamese duo 2-0 (21-13, 21-7) in the Friday afternoon.
In Pool C, Thailand’s 13th seeds Tanarattha, 35, and Rumpaipruet, 31, suffered a shock 0-2 (21-23, 16-21) defeat to Nguyen Thi Thanh Tram/Nguyen Le Thi Tuong Vy. However, the Vietnam’s 22nd seeds had a mixed fortune on Friday as they went down to third seeds Elizabeth Alchin/Georgia Johnson in thrilling three-setter 22-20, 13-21, 10-15 in the afternoon session. The Aussies picked up bronze at the recent Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta and again, at the 24th Samila Open in Thailand.
As only top two teams of each pool will progress to the round of 16, Tanarattha/Rumpaipruet will take on Australians Alchin/Johnson in a must-win match on Saturday.
China’s 8th seeds Yu Tong/Jiang Kaiyue, who claimed bronze medal at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Songkhla Futures in early April, pulled off a one-sided win 21-10, 21-6 against Kazakhstan’s Kristina Karimova/Yekaterina Ryukhova in Pool H. The Kazakhs suffered another disappointing 0-2 (10-21, 9-21) loss to Vietnam’s Chau Ngoc Lan/Mai Hong Hanh to bow out of the four-day event.
Vanuatu’s 11th seeds Sherysyn Toko/Majabelle Lawac, who won the women’s Division One Final of the Australia Beach Volleyball Tour in Coolangatta, Gold Coast in 2023, also had little problem in overcoming Hong Kong, China’s Tsang Ngokling/Wong Manching 2-0 (21-14, 21-13) in Pool G.
Tsang/Wong suffered their second loss at the hands of Japan’s Saki Maruyama/Miki Ishii 0-2 (12-21, 13-21) in 29 minutes to be eliminated from the tournament.
Meanwhile, top two seedings, Australia’s Jasmine Fleming/Stefanie Fejes and New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley/Olivia MacDonald, are set to kick off their campaigns on Saturday, with the former taking on Hong Kong,China’s To Wingtung/To Wingman in Pool A and the latter challenging Australia’s 14th seeds Tara Phillips/Lara Maric in Pool B.
At the recent AVC Beach Tour 2nd Nuvali Open in the Philippines, top seeds Fleming/Fejes claimed gold and Polley/MacDonald took silver, but the Kiwis secured silver and the Australians clinched bronze at the 24th Samila Open in Thailand.
The pool play continues on Saturday. The round of 16 and quarterfinals will be held on April 27, with the semifinals, finals as well as the awards presentation and closing ceremony taking place on Monday, April 28.
MATCH RESULTS
POOL STANDINGS
MATCH SCHEDULE
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