Bangkok, Thailand, June 18, 2024 – Oman qualified for AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Finals following their stunning Golden Match win against Thailand in the men’s showdown of the Semifinals at Ningbo Banbianshan Beach Volleyball Center in Ningbo, Xiangshan, China on Tuesday, as Indonesia downed top seeds Vanuatu in decisive Golden Match of women’s final but both sides advanced to the Finals.
Top seeds Thailand were set to face off against Oman after 2-0 demolition of fourth seeds Solomon Islands in the semifinals earlier, with the third seeds Omanis struggling to beat second seeds Kazakhstan in the trilling Golden Match.
Against formidable Oman in the final, Thailand sealed their first win, thanks to the outstanding performance of Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato. The Thai duo, who captured their first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour medal in the Philippines in 2022, a Subic Bay Futures gold, and picked up silver at their next appearance on the Tour at the Coolangatta Futures in March and April, faced a tough match against Haitham Alshereiqi/Ahmed Alhousni, but with greater experience and form, they overcame the rivals’ strong challenge to beat the Omanis in hard-fought three-set thriller 21-17, 20-22, 20-18 and handed Thailand the first win.
Thailand’s second duo, Netitorn Muneekul/Wachirawit Muadpha, also faced the similar difficult situation in their match against Hood Al Jalaboubi/Mazin Alhashmi to eventually succumb to 1-2 (21-18, 14-21, 13-15) loss to the stronger Omanis, forcing the Golden Match to determine the winners and the remaining slot for the AVC Continental Cup Finals.
In the decisive match, Thailand’s Pithak/Poravid, who claimed silver at AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open in City of Santa Rosa, Philippines early this year, followed by another silver at AVC Beach Tour Samila Open on home soil in Songkhla, remained in superb form to take the first set 21-18 against Hood/Mazin, but the Omani duo bounced back mightily to beat the Thai pairing in the next two sets 21-19, 15-11 for the comeback 2-1 win.
With the remaining slot being filled, the complete list of the eight qualified teams (NFs) in the men’s AVC Continental Cup Finals is as follows: Hosts China, defending champions Australia, winners from five zones consisting of Indonesia (Southeast Asia), Iran (Central Zone), Japan (Eastern Zone), New Zealand (Oceania) and Qatar (Western Zone), and Oman, the eventual winners from the Semifinals.
Meanwhile, top seeds Vanuatu cruised to 2-0 victory against fourth seeds Kyrgyzstan in the semifinals to challenge third seeds Indonesia, which managed a 2-0 shutout of second seeds Hong Kong, China, in the Tuesday’s final.
The showdown was also decided in the Golden Match, which ended in Indonesia’s way.
Indonesia took the early 1-0 lead following Desi Ratnasari/Nur Sari Atika’s exceptional 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) win against Vanuatu’s Sherysyn Toko/Majabelle Lawac in the first match.
Another Indonesian pair of Bernadetta Shella Herdanti/Selvina Anasthasys Kaize Josephine also lived up to expectations as they took the first set 21-15 in the second clash against Loti Joe/Linline Matauatu, but the experienced Vanuatu tandem hit back to capture the next two sets 21-14, 15-9 for the 2-1 win.
The Golden Match between Indonesians Desi/Nur Atika and Vanuatu’s Joe/Matauatu saw the former fare better with near-flawless performance to eliminate the latter 21-10, 21-19 in 32 minutes for the Indonesia’s fantastic 2-1 win.
Six teams (NFs) had already qualified for the AVC Continental Cup Finals comprising hosts and defending champions China and winners from five zones featuring Japan (Eastern Zone), Kazakhstan (Central Zone), Lebanon (Western Zone), New Zealand (Oceania) and Thailand (Southeast Asia), resulting in top two teams from the women’s Semifinals, Indonesia and Vanuatu, to secure the remaining slots for the Finals.
The AVC Continental Cup Finals are set to be held at the same competition venue, Ningbo Banbianshan Beach Volleyball Center, between June 21 and 23, which serves as the last Asian qualification to determine the only champions in each gender to qualify one team (NF) for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
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