Pingtan, China, May 10, 2025 – As Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan continued remarkable unbeaten run to secure their semifinal slot in the AVC Beach Tour Pingtan Open at Beach Sport base of Pingtan, here on Saturday, Australia has at least one pair through to the men’s final as Ben Hood/Oliver Merritt and D’Artagnan Potts/Jack Pearse will fight it out in the all-Australian semifinal encounter.
In the Sunday morning’s semifinals, Qatar’s top-seeded Cherif/Ahmed, current world No.12 who are chasing dreams of winning three AVC Beach Tour titles in a row after claiming the first two outings in the Samila Open in Songkhla, Thailand and the Doha Open on their home soil.
On Saturday, Cherif/Ahmed, bronze medallists at the Tokyo Olympics and former three-time Asian champions mastered Japan’s Kai Kurakawa/Ryuichi Adachi 2-0 (21-9, 21-11) in round of 16 before powering past Thailand’s Banlue Nakprakhong/Dunwinit Kaewsai, bronze medallists in the Beach Pro Tour Songkhla Futures 2025, in quarterfinals 2-0 (21-15, 21-13).
In the semifinals, Cherif/Ahmed will next go up against China’s Wang Yanwei/Du Hongjun, who in round of 16 earlier downed compatriots Zhang Tai/Song Jinyang 2-0 (21-12, 21-15) and outperformed Thailand’s Netitorn Muneekul/Wachirawit Muadpha 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) in the quarterfinals.
The other semifinal clash on Sunday morning sees Hood/Merritt, who claimed silver medal at the recent Nuvali Open in Philippines, lock horns with teammates and second seeds Potts/Pearse, who captured the last year’s Asian Championship title.
Hood/Merritt stunned another Australian duo, Paul Burnett/Luke Ryan, who claimed gold medal at the Nuvali Open and silver medal at the Doha Open, 2-1 (21-15, 19-21, 15-13) in a hard-fought round of 16 match and repeated the feat in the same fashion in the quarterfinals after beating Samila Open silver medallists and sixth seeds Bradley Fuller/Ben O’Dea from New Zealand 2-1 (21-17, 14-21, 15-9).
In the women’s event, fifth seeds Xue Chen/Zeng Jinjin outplayed fourth seeds and gold medallists at the last year’s Wuhan Qingshan Futures, Yan Xu/Zhou Mingli 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) in the all-Chinese quarterfinals to next go up against Thailand’s seventh seeds Taravadee Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee, the 2021 Asian champions and recent silver medallists at Phu Yen Open in Vietnam, in the Sunday morning’s semifinals.
Meanwhile, Jasmine Fleming/Stefanie Fejes keep the Australian flag flying high after defeating two Japanese pairs en route to the semifinals. The second seeds and Nuvali Open champions surprised Samila Open winners Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) in round of 16, but the quarterfinal clash saw the Aussies struggle to beat Asami Shiba/Reika Murakami 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 15-11). Fleming/Fejes will next face off against Saki Maruyama/Miki Ishii, in the semifinals.
The Japan’s 10th seeds on Saturday cruised past China’s Yu Tong/Jiang Kaiyue 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) in round of 16 before crushing Aussies Tara Phillips/Kayla Mears 2-0 (21-12, 21-8) in the quarterfinals.
The Sunday’s semifinals start at 9.30am local time with the women’s event, while the men’s competition commences at 10.30am. The third-place playoff and finals for both genders will take place in the evening, followed by the awards presentation and closing ceremony.
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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