Songkhla, Thailand, April 15, 2025 – Australian men suffered their quarterfinal casualty in the AVC Beach Tour 24th Samila Open at the Samila Beach here on Tuesday, with defending Asian champions D’Artagnan Potts/Jack Pearse going down in an intense match against Iranians Alireza Aghajanighasab/Abbas Pourasgari and Qatar’s Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan dashing out Paul Burnett/Luke Ryan’s high hopes of claiming back-to-back AVC Beach Tour title.
In the men’s semifinals on Wednesday morning, Aghajanighasab/Pourasgari set up a mighty clash with 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists Cherif/Ahmed, while Kiwis Bradley Fuller/Ben O’Dea will lock horns with Indonesians Bintang Akbar/Sofyan Rachman Efendi.
Jasmine Fleming/Stefanie Fejes saved the pride for Australia as they became the lone pair from the beach volleyball powerhouses to progress to the women’s semifinals, moving another step closer to winning their consecutive second AVC Beach Tour after a successful outing at the 2nd Nuvali Open, concluded in City of Santa Rosa, Philippines on April 5. The Aussies will take on Japan’s Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto on Wednesday morning, with local hopefuls Taravadee Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee going up against Kiwis Shaunna Polley/Olivia MacDonald in the other semifinal encounter.
In the action-packed men’s event on Tuesday, Qatar’s top seeds and current FIVB world No.12 Cherif/Ahmed, who have dominated major regional tournaments including the Asian Championship title for three times (2018, 2019 and 2022) and the Asian Games for consecutive two times (2018 and 2022), ousted Indonesians Danangsyah Pribadi/Yosi Firnando 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) in round of 16.
Cherif/Ahmed’s quarterfinal campaign in the afternoon session also completed in dominant style as the Qatar’s top seeds mastered a resounding 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) win against fourth seeds Paul Burnett/Luke Ryan to maintain their remarkable unbeaten record without dropping a set to their respective opponents in the four-day event.
The Aussies initially had their sights firmly set on winning the Samila Open here for two AVC Beach Tour victory in a row following their first victory at the recent 2nd Nuvali Open in Philippines. Still, they could not accomplish their goal as they succumbed to the 0-2 defeat to the Qataris and crashed out of the tournament.
Seeded second in this topflight tournament, Potts/Pearse sailed past Philippines’ 12th seeds James Buytrago/Rancel Varga 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) in round of 16, but found Iranians Alireza Aghajanighasab/Abbas Pourasgari too hot to handle to suffer 0-2 (19-21, 22-24) loss in a hard-fought battle.
Following the quarterfinal win, the Iranians, who claimed silver in the 23rd Samila Open the previous year, still keep their flag flying high at the on-going 24th Samila Open.
Indonesia’s third seeds Bintang Akbar/Sofyan Rachman Efendi, who last year handed the country’s first-ever Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour gold at the Wuhan Qingshan Futures in China, eliminated Kiwis John McManaway/James Sadlier 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) in the quarterfinals to next go up against another New Zealand’s pairing, eighth seeds Bradley Fuller/Ben O’Dea, who claimed gold at the recent Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta, in the Wednesday’s semifinals.
Fuller/O’Dea, beaten by Iranians Aghajanighasab/Pourasgari 0-2 in the pool play earlier, spent 30 minutes in knocking 17th seeds Dmitriy Yakovlev/Abdulmajid Mohammad out of contention after 2-0 (21-12, 21-13) demolition of the Kazakh duo in the quarterfinals.
In the women’s event, fourth seeds Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn have given the home crowd something to cheer about as the 2021 Asian champions produced a one-sided win against Laura Kabulbekova/Nadezhda Ivanchenko to mercilessly crush the Kazakhstan’s 12th seeds 2-0 (21-9, 21-8) in the round of 16.
The Thai paring, who claimed silver at the 2023 Asian Championships in Fuzhou, China, continued their unbeaten streak with another 2-0 (23-21, 21-15) win against Japan’s Saki Maruyama/Miki Ishii in the quarterfinals. They will next face off against third seeds Polley/MacDonald, gold medallists at this year’s GJ Gardner Homes NZ Beach Tour in Mt Maunganui and silver medallists at the recent AVC Beach Tour 2nd Nuvali Open in Philippines.
Kiwis struggled to beat China’s 2024 Wuhan Qingshan Futures gold medallists Yan Xu/Zhou Mingli with epic comeback 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 15-10) in the Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Top seeds Fleming/Fejes outplayed Tara Phillips/Lara Maric 2-0 (21-8, 21-16) in the all-Australian round of 16 and went on their dazzling form to beat China’s eighth seeds Yu Tong/Jiang Kaiyue, who took bronze at the last week’s Songkhla Futures, 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) in quarterfinals.
In the Wednesday’s semifinals, Fleming/Fejes will challenge Ren/Non. The Japan’s 11th seeds, who secured silver medal at the Songkhla Futures and gold medallists at the New Zealand Beach Tour – Auckland, faced a stiff challenge against Danielle Quigley/Meile Rose Green to narrowly beat the New Zealand’s 15th seeds 2-1 (21-18, 16-21, 15-13) on Tuesday.
The semifinals will be held on Wednesday from 8.30am, followed by the third-place playoffs at 1pm and the finals at 4pm. The awards presentation and closing ceremony will take place shortly after conclusion of the finals.
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