Hosts China through to both men’s and women’s finals
Bangkok, Thailand, June 22, 2024 – The action-packed last day of the AVC Continental Cup Finals at Ningbo Banbianshan Beach Volleyball Center in Ningbo, Xiangshan promises equally intense action as China and Australia set up men’s final and China face off against Japan in women’ showdown to fight for the lone Paris 2024 berth on offer in each gender.
In the Sunday’s showdown, hosts China, demolishing Iran 2-0 in the men’s semifinals, will next take on Australia, which powered past Indonesia 2-0 in the other semifinal clash, while China stunned New Zealand in the Golden Match to go up against Japan after their 2-0 rout of Thailand in the semifinal clash.
In the men’s semifinals on Saturday, China’s veterans Wu Jiaxin/Ha Likejiang, who performed brilliantly in the 2023 season to win several titles including Beach Pro Tour Futures Wenzhou Cangnan, AVC Beach Tour Samila Open, Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta in Australia and Beach Pro Tour Futures Mt Maunganui Beach in New Zealand, drew the first blood for China as they cruised to a 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) victory against Iranians Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab, winners at this year’s Nuvali Open in Philippines.
Wang Yanwei/Li Jie, who claimed gold at the 2023 Beach Pro Tour Futures Qidong to their name, did not let teammates and home fans down to pull off exceptional 2-0 (23-21, 21-17) win against another Iranian pair of Abolhamed Mirzaali/Sina Shoukati Shekarsaraei for the China’s eventual 2-0 win.
However, a daunting task awaits China in the Sunday’s showdown as they will next challenge powerhouses Australia to fight for the Paris 2024 slot on offer in the men’s event.
Mark Nicolaidis and the 1.99cm-tall Izac Carracher, who in 2022 burst onto the international scene at the Gold Coast Beach Pro Tour Futures event in April, winning gold in their first International event as a pair and a remarkable 9th place in the 2022 World Championships in Rome, handed Australia the 1-0 lead following their hard-fought 2-0 (22-20, 21-19) win against Indonesians Bintang Akbar/Sofyan Rachman Efendi.
Another Australian duo, Jack Pearse/Paul Burnett, who captured gold at 2023 Beach Pro Tour Futures Geelong on home soil and this year’s AVC Beach Tour 23rd Samila Open, struggled to beat Indonesians Yosi Firnanda/Danangsyah Pribadi 2-1 (21-15, 21-23, 15-8).
Meanwhile, the women’s showdown sees Japan pitted against hosts China to vie for the Paris 2024 berth up for grabs.
On Saturday, China lost the first match to New Zealand when Wang Jingzhe/Dong Jie went down 0-2 (18-21, 18-21) to 2022 Asian champions and consecutive two-time Mount Maunganui winners Alice Zeimann/Shaunna Polley.
However, the host side bounced back to level it at 1-1 when Cao Shuting/Zhu Lingdi downed Olivia MacDonald/Danielle Quigley in comfortable two-setter 21-11, 21-13.
In the Gold Match to decide the eventual winners, Chinese Cao Shuting teamed up with Dong Jie, surviving a huge scare from Zaimann/Polley to beat the Kiwis in hard-fought three-set thriller 23-21, 22-24, 15-13 for the China’s 2-1 victory against New Zealand.
China will next take on Japan in the women’s showdown.
Contesting the semifinals against Thailand on Saturday, Japan took the first win when Akiko Hasegawa/Miki Ishii stunned Taravadee Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee, gold medallists at the 2021 Asian Championship and silver medallists at the 2023 edition, with a comeback 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 15-13) win in a hotly-contested encounter.
Teammates Suzuka Hashimoto/Reika Murakami made it 2-0 for Japan when they managed a 2-0 (21-7, 21-6) shutout of Charanrutwadee Patcharamainaruebhorn/Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert, completely dashing Thai hopes in the AVC Continental Cup Finals.
MATCH RESULTS
MEN
WOMEN
MATCH SCHEDULE
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