Roi Et, Thailand, April 28, 2024 – Hosts Thailand grabbed top honours in both men’s and women’s events at the 2024 South East Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships at Ban Nong Ya Ma Community School Courts here on Sunday, with Rueangrit Wiromrat/Suranath Ratanapolsaen producing epic comeback win against Vietnamese Nguyen Hoang Long/Danh Chanh Sa May to claim men’s title and Varagkhana Sogalee/Somruedee Koedkaew winning the all-Thais showdown for the women’s crown.
Thailand’s Rueangrit Wiromrat/Suranath Ratanapolsaen top men’s podium
Thailand sweep women’s podium
A total of 11 men’s and 8 women’s teams from five countries consisting of Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand took part in the four-day tournament, which started on April 25 and served as a springboard for the further competition in the 5th Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships, due to take place at the same venue here between May 1 and 5.
The championships, hosted by Southeast Asia Volleyball Association (SAVA) in conjunction with Thailand Volleyball Association and sanctioned by AVC, saw teams divided into two pools of four teams apiece in the women’s event. In the men’s division, teams were split into Pool A with six teams and Pool B with five teams. In both men’s and women’s events, teams played pool round-robin preliminaries, with top four teams from each pool advancing to the elimination round comprising quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
In the men’s event, Thailand’s ninth seeds Rueangrit/Suranath topped Pool A at the end of the pool play on Friday, with another Thai pairing, second seeds Big Manyahong/Aphichat Thonghin, taking the top spot in Pool B.
After the Saturday’s knockout quarterfinals, three Thai pairings powered their ways into the Sunday morning’s much-anticipated semifinals. Also joining the fray were Vietnam’s 10th seeds Nguyen Hoang Long/Danh Chanh Sa May.
The semifinals turned out to be hard-fought encounters, with Rueangrit/Suranath struggling to beat fellow eighth seeds Chalermkeat Yangdee/Teeraphat Patang in tie-break 21-17, 20-22, 15-3 and the Vietnamese duo stealing the show, coming from behind to beat Thailand’s Big/Aphichat 17-21, 21-15, 15-12.
In the thrilling final showdown against Thailand’s Rueangrit/Suranath, Nguyen Hoang Long/Danh Chanh Sa May still proved a tough nut to crack, initially taking the first set 21-19. However, the host side bounced back bravely to win the closely-contested second set 22-20 and went on their outstanding performance to take the comfortable decider 15-7 for the eventual title.
Thailand’s Rueangrit/Suranath take men’s title
Vietnamese Nguyen Hoang Long/Danh Chanh Sa May finish second
Thailand’s Chalermkeat/Teeraphat finished third after 2-0 (22-20, 21-28) victory against compatriots Big/Apichat in the third-place playoff.
Thailand’s Chalermkeat/Teeraphat clinch third position
Meanwhile, in the women’s event, Thailand’s fourth seeds Inthira Bunpasong/Suchipha Rittila lived up to all expectations to top Pool A without dropping a single set, while teammates seventh seeds Varagkhana Sogalee/Somruedee Koedkaew did likewise to make a clean sweep in Pool B without losing a set.
The women’s quarterfinals ended in similar script as the men’s event, with three home teams through to the Sunday morning’s semifinals. Indonesia’s sixth seeds Alifa Zahwa Arifin/Mido Maya Saputri also proved a strong contender to be reckoned with and advanced to the semifinals.
However, with Inthira/Suchipha and Varagkhana/Somruedee setting up the all-Thais showdown, hosts Thailand were assured of winning the women’s gold.
Inthira/Suchipha pulled off stunning 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) win against second seeds Wannaparin Rodchuai/Orathai Sembut in the all-Thais semifinal clash, while Varagkhana/Somruedee proved superiority over Alifa Zahwa Arifin/Mido Maya Saputri to demolish the Indonesians 2-0 (21-7, 21-15).
In the final clash, Thailand’s Varagkhana/Somruedee fared well defensively and offensively to beat compatriots Inthira/Suchipha 2-0 (21-15, 21-11) for the eventual crown.
Thailand’s Varagkhana/Somruedee receive Champions Trophy
Thailand’s Inthira/Suchipha finish second
The host team swept the podium when Wannaparin/Orathai claimed bronze medal following their 2-0 (21-13, 21-18) rout of Indonesians Alifa Zahwa Arifin/Mido Maya Saputri in the third-place playoff earlier.
Thailand’s Wannaparin/Orathai finish third
Mr Somporn Chaibangyang, President of Southeast Asia Volleyball Association and Thailand Volleyball Association, presided over the awards presentation and closing ceremony shortly after the end of all finals on Sunday.
FINAL RESULTS
MEN
WOMEN
FINAL RANKINGS
MEN
WOMEN
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