Ha Likejiang/Wu Jiaxin landed men’s title and Dong Jie/Wang Fan captured women’s crown
Songkhla, Thailand, April 17, 2023 – China underlined its supremacy over the “Est Cola” AVC Beach Tour 22nd Samila Open on Monday, with Ha Likejiang/Wu Jiaxin smashing Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato’s sweet dreams of winning on home soil to capture the men’s title and Dong Jie/Wang Fan dominating the women’s event following their comfortable win against Japanese Akiko Hasegawa and Yurika Sakaguchi in the final showdown.
Ha and Wu
Wang and Dong
It was the third consecutive title this year for the 30-year-old Ha and 29-year-old Wu, who had earlier captured the Beach Pro Tour Futures Mt Maunganui Beach in March 16, the first-ever world-level tournament hosted by New Zealand, and Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta Beach in Australia in March 29.
Moreover, the Monday’s sensational 21-12, 22-20 victory over top seeds Pithak and Poravid was two in succession as the Chinese veterans, who started their first season together as teammates in 2018 for the World Tour five-star Fort Lauderdale event in the USA, had already proved stronger after 2-0 (21-9, 25-23) rout of the Thai counterparts at the Coolangatta Futures final match.
However, despite suffering another setback to the Chinese opponents, Thailand’s Pithak, 24, and Poravid, 21, captured heart of the host nation. Aside from winning gold medal at the Subic Bay Futures in the Philippines last December, they also powered past big names en route to the Monday’s showdown on Samila Beach including Chinese Li Zhuoxin/Liu Chuangyong in the quarterfinals and the 2018 Asian Games bronze medallists Pribadi Danangsyah/Ramadhan Gilang from Indonesia in the highly-anticipated semifinals.
Indonesians Danang/Gilang had to be content with bronze medal after demolishing Kiwis Bradley Fuller/Alani Nicklin 21-19, 21-18 in 36 minutes in the men’s third-place playoff match earlier.
In the women’s event, the 188cm-tall Wang Fan, 29, who teamed up with Xia Xinyi to grab gold medal for China at the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia, started her 2023 season with new partner Dong Jie.
Against Akiko and Yurika, silver medallists at the previous year’s AVC Beach Tour Samila Open here, the Chinese duo lived up to their expectations to pull off a convincing 21-16, 21-13 victory in 36 minutes, shattering the Japanese pairing’s high hopes of making one step better than last year.
Vanuatu’s Majabelle Lawac/Sherysyn Toko, bronze medallists at the Coolangatta Futures early this month, upset the Thailand’s top seeds Taravadee Naraphornrapat/Rumpaipruet Numwong 21-18, 23-21 in the third-place playoff. The host nation unfortunately missed the podium this year, a far cry from its incredible performance the previous year when Taravadee partnered Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee to capture gold medal.
In the awards presentation and closing ceremony, presided by Songkhla Governor Mr Jessada Jitrat, Chinese Ha Likejiang and Wu Jiaxin, who captured the men’s title, received the Champions’ Trophies and US$2,500 cash prize.
The second place wen to Thailand’s Pithak Tipjan and Poravid Taovato, who took the trophies plus US$2,000 cash, with Indonesians Pribadi Danangsyah/Ramadhan Gilang claiming the third place to return with the trophies plus US$1,500 cash.
Chinese Dong Jie and Wang Fan, who clinched the women’s crown, were presented with the Champions’ Trophies and US$2,500 cash prize.
Japanese Akiko Hasekawa and Yurika Sakaguchi finished second to take home the trophies plus US$2,000 cash, with Vanuatu’s Majabelle Lawac/Sherysyn Toko in third place to receive the trophies and US$1,500 cash.
After that, Mr Somporn Chaibangyang, President of Thailand Volleyball Association, presented the thank-you plaque to Songkhla Governor Mr Jessada Jitrat, for the province’s great support in hosting this topflight event. Mr Jessada delivered a speech in the closing ceremony, followed by photo opportunities.
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