Santa Rosa, Philippines, November 5, 2024 – Kazakhstan’s hopefuls Dmitriy Yakovlev/Sergey Bogatu, Iranians Bahman Salemiinjehboroun/Abolhassan Khakizadeh and Thailand’s Tanarattha Udomchavee/Rumpaipruet Numwong are among those qualified for the main draw of the 2024 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships, which get underway Wednesday at Nuvali Sand Courts here.
In the men’s qualification tournament, Kazakhs Yakovlev/Bogatu, who claimed their first podium finish on the World Beach Pro Tour together in 2019 when they finished third at the event in Satun, Thailand, demolished compatriots Mohammad Abdulmajid/Klim Ryukhov 21-18, 21-19 on Tuesday.
Salemi B/Abolhassan, who picked up silver at the 2021 edition after going down to Aussies Chris McHugh/Paul Burnett in the showdown in Phuket, Thailand, proved too strong for Edwin Tolentino/Ronniel Rosales to beat the Filipinos in a totally lopsided battle 21-8, 21-10 in 27 minutes in the first qualifying match.
The Iranians remained unstoppable in the second match against Al-Jalbubi Nouh/Alshereiqi Haitham, defeating the Omanis 21-13, 21-12.
Also advancing to the Wednesday’s main draw comprised Chinese Song Jinyang/Zhang Tai and Japanese Yoshiumi Hasegawa/Dylan Hiroki Kurokawa.
Song/Zhang swept Vietnamese Cao Nhat Minh/Tran Sinh Phan 21-11, 21-18 in the first qualifying match, but the Chinese duo faced a stiff challenge in the second match against Yosi Fimanda/Septiano Ade Dimas to beat the Indonesians 21-17, 26-24.
Hasegawa/Dylan beat Vietnamese Nguyen Thanh Sang/Nguyen Hoang Long 21-8, 21-10 in the second qualifying match to secure a place in the main draw.
In the women’s qualification tournament on Tuesday, Thailand’s Tanarattha/Rumpaiprute, both of them played in the gold medal-winning Thailand team at the 2019, 2021 and 2023 Southeast Asian Games, eliminated Singaporeans Dipoditiro Francesca Naila/Lee Xin En Valerie 21-10, 21-10 in their first qualifying match to advance to the Wednesday’s main draw.
Also booking their berths in the main draw comprised Japanese Kana Motomura/Nayu Motomura, who defeated Singaporeans Chong Eliza/Ang Hui Ying 21-15, 21-14 and Indonesians Kaize Josephine Selvina Anasthasya/Melinda Novita Sari Devi, who struggled to beat Filipinas Alexa Polidario/Jenny Gaviola 23-21, 21-15. Another Thai tandem, Salinda Mungkhon/Somruedee Koedkaew, advanced to the main draw without sweating.
With four teams apiece making the cut for the men’s and women’s main draw, the General Technical Meeting of the 2024 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships was held on Tuesday at the Velvet Meeting Room inside the Seda Hotel Nuvali to confirm that all is set for the main draw from November 6 to 10.
Philippine National Volleyball Federation Secretary General Mr Donaldo Caringal presided over the meeting and delivered a welcome speech to Technical Delegate Mr Kritsada Panaseri from Thailand, Referee Delegate Mr Wang Lei Jun from China, Ms Nattalida Sumdangdech from AVC Beach Volleyball Department and all participating teams from Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Oman, Hong Kong China, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu and hosts Philippines.
Teams were split into six pools (Pools A, B, C, D, E and F) of four teams apiece to contest the pool round-robin preliminaries. Top 3 teams at the end of the preliminaries will next secure their places in round of 18 and round of 16.
Xia Xinyi/Xue Chen, reigning champions and Paris Olympians, returned to defend their crown achieved before a large crowd of home fans in Fuzhou in the 2023 edition. However, the Chinese duo switched their partners this time, with Xia teaming up with Wang Jingzhe as top seeds and Xue partnering Zeng Jinjin as fourth seeds.
Other strong contenders in the women’s event included Australian second seeds Jana Milutinovic/Stefanie Fejes, Thailand’s third seeds Taravadee Naraphonrapat/Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert, New Zealand’s fifth seeds Shaunna Polley/Olivia MacDonald, Australia’s eighth seeds Jasmine Fleming/Elizabeth Alchin and 10th seeds Sherysyn Toko/Majabelle Lawac from Vanuatu, who won the women’s Division One Final of the Australia Beach Volleyball Tour in 2023.
Molutinovic/Fejes defended their Coolangatta crown from 2023 and repeated their success at the 2024 edition of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures event, making it three podiums in a row since the start of the season after also winning a Mollymook Futures gold and a Mount Maunganui Futures silver, while Thailand’s Taravadee Naraphonrapat won silver medal at the 2023 Asian Championship in Fuzhou with teammate Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee, but switched her partner this time to team up with Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert.
In the men’s event, Australia’s second seeds Thomas Hodges/Zachery Schubert, who won their first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour in the Jurmala Challenge in 2023, proved to be the strongest to beat. Their current world ranking is No.19, the second best ranking in Asia (Qatar’s Cherif/Ahmed is No.10).
The Aussies first competed together in 2022 making podium appearances a total of six times at Futures, national or continental tournaments. In the following season, they won the Jurmala Challenge before qualifying for round 16 at the 2023 World Championships and earning a spot in the world’s top 10.
The strongest challenge can be expected from compatriots Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher, top seeds and joint world No.19. The Australian pairing captured the AVC Beach Tour Penghu Open in Chinese Taipei in 2023 and also won the 2024’s first Beach Pro Tour event at Mollymook Futures.
Another Australian pairing and third seeds, D’Artagnan Potts/Jack Pearse, as well as Thailand’s fourth seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato, and Chinese fifth seeds Wu Jiaxin/Ha Likejiang have also proved they could be a thorn in the flesh of their opponents.
Potts/Pearse claimed silver at this year’s AVC Beach Tour Taoyuan Open in Chinese Taipei, while Pithak/Poravid emerged triumphant at the aforementioned Taoyuan Open and bronze medallists at the 2023 Asian Championship in Fuzhou, and Wu/Ha captured many international tournaments including three consecutive gold medals on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour in 2023 (Sohar, Mount Maunganui and Coolangatta Futures).
The 2024 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships on the Nuvali Sand Courts kick off the main draw competition on Wednesday from 08.00am local time, with teams fighting in non-stop action to vie for better positions in the double-gender event and AVC points.
RESULTS
QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT
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WOMEN
MAIN DRAW SCHEDULE
MEN
WOMEN
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S POOLS
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