Roi Et, Thailand, June 2, 2022 – In-form Thai players stole the show on the first day of the 4th Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships at Ban Nong Ya Ma Community School here following two wins in succession in all Thai matches to lead their respective pools in both men’s and women’s events.
The double-gender championships serve as the qualification tournament for the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships in Izmir, Turkey from September 14 to 18, 2022, with teams vying for the entire quotas of 5 teams per gender up for grabs for the U19 Worlds.
In the women’s event on Thursday, THAI1’s Patcharaporn Seehawong/Jidapa Bunongkhun got their campaign in the four-day championships off to a winning start following two wins in a row in Pool A. The top seeds first spent 31 minutes in demolishing KAZ2’s Yuliya Khristolyubova/Anastassiya Pushinka 21-5, 21-12 in a one-way traffic which ended in 31 minutes. The Thai girls later saw off NZL2’s Maria Hanabadi/Kiana Stevenson 21-15, 21-10 for a clean sweep on the first day.
In Pool B, CHN1’s Li Han/Yao Xin also proved they are a strong team to be reckoned with in the championships after two successive wins on Thursday. The Chinese duo first downed MAS2’s Maegan Jiaxin Beh/Noor Aishah Iskandar 21-14, 21-9 before pulling of a scintillating 2-0 (21-14, 21-19) win against AUS2’s Jasmine Rayner/Charlotte Duncan in their second match.
THA2’s Salinda/Samitta also clinched two matches in a row in Pool C on Thursday including the 21-17, 21-4 win against HKG2’s Szehang Gee/Hui Wa Jacqueline Ngor in their first clash and the stunning 21-13, 21-7 victory against JPN2’s Chinatsu Hisaoka/Airi Honda in the second effort.
Top seeds Patcharaporn/Jidapa of Thailand led Pool A, while Chinese second seeds Li Han/Yao Xin ruled Pool B. Pool C and Pool D were dominated by Thailand’s third seeds Salinda/Samitta and THA3’s 20th seeds Suchina/Somruedee respectively.
In the men’s event, THA3’s Phuthanet Khamtao/Saiphirun Ruairung registered two wins in a row on the very first day of the competition. The Thai 21st seeds recovered from a slow start in the first set to power past CHN1’s Zhang Tai/Hong Weiqiang 14-21, 21-17, 15-8 in gruelling 48 minutes in their opening Pool D clash. They repeated the feat in their second match against Rehan Tharusha Fernando/Cheng Feng Renfred Eng to comfortably beat the Singaporeans 21-13, 21-14. The Thai tandem will next take on NZL2’s Ryan Jefferson/Oliver Morton-Farrelly, who on Thursday went down 18-21, 18-21 to Chinese Zhang/Hong.
Another home pairing, THA2’s Narakorn Chumaphai/Wichaya Wisetkan, also bagged two consecutive wins on Thursday. Competing in Pool E, Narakorn and Wichaya first brushed off LAO2’s Phongern Xanavong/Xayyasit Vongdala in a totally one-sided affair 21-9, 21-5 in 28 minutes before winning another easy match against SGP2’s Soon Daniel Wei Shen/Sasikumar Ranjiv 21-8, 21-7 in 30 minutes.
Kota Kurosawa/Teruki Ryujin also made their mark in the same Pool E with two wins on the trot. The Japanese duo first demolished Singaporeans Soon Daniel Wei Shen/Sasikumar Ranjiv 21-15, 21-6 before producing a 2-0 (21-8, 21-6) rout of Laotians Phongern/Xayyasit in their second encounter.
In Pool A, IRI2’s Nima Ormagei/Mohammad Esmaeil Naghipour powered past AUS2’s Luke Ryan/Mitchell Croft 21-12, 21-17, but found THA1’s top seeds Metin Salila/Nanthipat Panyasuwankhiri a tough nut to crack to go down 21-19, 17-21, 10-15 in exhausting 55 minutes.
Pool B encounters saw CHN2’s Song Jinyang/Sun Xinglong too strong for Dethnakhone Loungkhod/Soukpaseuth Mounlathsavong to brush off the Laotians 21-10, 21-13 in 30 minutes. The Chinese pairing enjoyed their winning run on the same day with the comfortable 21-14, 21-17 win against AUS1’s Toby Bergh/Benjamin Hood.
At the end of the first day, Thailand’s Phuthanet/Saiphirun and Narakorn/Wichaya went atop Pool D and Pool E. Iranians Nima/Esmaeil topped Pool A, with Chinese Song Jinyang/Sun Xinglong, and Kazakhstan’s Assylbek/Zhigalov dominating Pool B and C respectively. Another Kazakhstan’s duo, Todorov/Ryukhov, led Pool F.
Regarding the men’s event, the round of the last 16 will be held on Friday and the organisers have kept all participating teams updated on the draw of Round 16.
According to the draw of round 16 for the men’s participants, the first-ranked teams of each pool will advance to the round 16 with the following seedings: 1A top seeds, 1B second seeds, 1C third seeds, 1D fourth seeds, 1E fifth seeds and 1F sixth seeds.
The draw will be conducted twice, with Draw 1 indicating that the four best third-ranked teams of the pools (decided by point ratio) will advance to round of 16 and will be drawn to 13th-16th seeds. However, teams from the same pool cannot meet and a redraw will be made.
Draw 2 is for the second ranked teams of each pool, which will advance to round of 16 and will be drawn to 7th-12th seeds. Also, a redraw is necessarily required in case teams from the same pool will meet.
The four-day competition continues through Sunday, the final day of the championships.
MEN’S RESULTS
WOMEN’S RESULTS
WOMEN’S POOLS
MEN’S POOLS
MATCH SCHEDULE
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