Can Tho, Vietnam, April 19, 2019 – Chinese Wang Fan/Xia Xinyi and Japanese Megumi Murakami/Miki Ishii lived up to their fans’ expectations as the top two seeds got off to winning starts on the opening day of the AVC Women’s Beach Volleyball Tour Vietnam Can Tho Open on Saturday.
The single-gender competition is being held from April 19 to 22, with players from 21 teams from 10 countries consisting of Australia, Kazakhstan, Japan, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Hong Kong China, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam vying for the top honour.
Top seeds Wang and Xia, who recently won back-to-back title at the Asian Beach Volleyball Tour “20th Samila Open in Songkhla, Thailand, kicked off their campaign in the four-day tournament on Friday with a lop-sided 2-0 (21-13, 21-7) win over New Zealand’s Polley/Tilley. The Chinese duo continued their unbeaten run following their 21-10 21-8 win over Kazakhs Rachenko/Yeropkina in their Pool A second match on Saturday.
Second seeds Marakami/Ishii also made their mark on the opening day when they beat Singaporeans Lim W. Y. V/Ng S in comfortable straight sets 21-11, 21-12. The Japanese pair also made it two in a row when they put it past fighting Mashkova and Tsimbalova of Kazakhstan, who beat Singapore’s Lim W. Y.V./Ng S 2-0 (21-15-21-12) in their Pool B second match, in thrilling three sets 21-12 19-21 15-6.
Third seeds Xue Chen and Wang Xinxin from China were also on cloud nine when they recorded a one-sided 2-0 ( 21-6, 21-9) win over Malaysia’s Chou Hwa/Jessie and won another match against Singaporeans E Chong and Lau E S 2-0 (21-9 21-7) in Pool C.
In Pool D, Thailand’s Varapatsorn Radarong and Khanittha Hongpak,fourth place at the last week’s 20th Samila Open, enjoyed their first day win following a 2-0 ( 21-7, 21-10) victory over Vietnam’s Trinh and Truong. The Thai duo went on their good show to brush off Malaysia’s Shu Woon and Tasha 21-13 21-10.
Meanwhile, the other three winning pairs who also recorded their first day victory in Pool E, Pool G and Pool H respectively comprised Japan’s Take and Kusano, Australia’s Bell and Ngauamo and Australia’s Becchara and Laird.
On Saturday, Bell and Ngauamo struggled to beat Vanuatu’s Pata/Toko 2-0 (21-18 25-23, while team-mates Becchara/Laird also had a field day to tame Vietnamese Truong/Tran 21-5 21-9. Japanese Take/Kusano also celebrated their 2-0 (21-12 21-13) win against Hong Kong China’s W.Y. Au Yeung/Koo.
The pool round-robin preliminaries continue on Sunday with the round of 16 and quarter-finals. The semi-finals and final showdown will be held on Monday.
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