The AVC’s action-packed season kicked off in City of Santa Rosa, Philippines on Thursday, with up-and-coming teams challenging one another to vie for the men’s and women’s crowns in the much-anticipated “Smart” AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open at the world-class Nuvali Sand Courts by Ayala Land.
All women’s matches ended in convincing two sets in the pool round-robin preliminaries, while Iranian teams escaped unscathed on the opening day of the four-day event.
In the women’s competition, Japanese fourth seeds Suzuka Hashimoto/Reika Murakami, who took silver at Beach Pro Tour Futures Mollymook and bronze at BPT Futures Coolangatta in Australia, showed a solid performance against Singaporeans Chong Elizabeth/Ang Huiying in Pool D and mastered a 2-0 (21-10, 21-12) shutout. The Japanese duo will next take on Thailand’s Patcharaporn Seehawong/Samitta Simarongnam, who will first play their Friday morning match against the beaten Singaporeans.
Another Japanese pairing, third seeds Asami Shiba/Saki Maruyama, also made their mark with a comfortable 2-0 (21-8, 21-17) win against Kazakhstan’s Anastassiya Ukolova/Mariya Peresetskaya in Pool C to next be pitted against Indonesians Desi Ratnasari/Nur Sari.
Thailand’s fifth seeds Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert/Charanrutwadee Patcharamainaruebhorn struggled to beat Macao China’s Leong Onieng/Law Wengsam 2-0 (21-14, 26-24) in Pool E.
Home players had mixed lucks on Thursday, with eighth-seeds Genesa Jane Eslapor/Mary Klymence Orillaneda powering past Singaporeans Chan Tin Wing/Soh Cecillia Huichin 2-0 (21-9, 21-15) in Pool H and 22nd-seeds Alexa Polidario/Jenny Gaviola succumbing to 0-2 (6-21, 16-21) loss to Australian seventh-seeds Tara Phillips/Elizabeth Alchin in Pool G.
In Pool F, New Zealand’s sixth seeds Danielle Quigley/Olivia MacDonald pulled off a speedy lopsided 2-0 (21-9, 21-10) affair against Malaysians Mashitah Muhammad Nasir/Auni Shamsulrizal.
Top two seeds from Australia, promising Stefanie Fejes/Jana Milutinovic and Jasmine Fleming/Georgia Johnson, will get on the sand for their first matches in the tournament. Top seeds Fejes/Milutinovic, fresh from winning the back-to-back BPT Futures Coolangatta on home soil on March 24, will kick off their campaign against Thailand’s Rampaipruet Numwong/Veeradakitikarn Wirakornkhayatimat in Pool A, while second seeds Fleming/Johnson, bronze medallists at BPT Futures Mollymook, are ready to make their presence felt in City of Santa Rosa in their first match against New Zealanders Katie Sadlier/Meile-Rose Green in Pool B.
In the men’s event, Iran lived up to expectations on Thursday, with Abolhamed Mirzaali/Abolhassan Khakizadeh sweeping both matches in Pool G. The 22nd seeds first upset Kazakhstan’s seventh-seeds Dmitriy Yakovlev/Sergey Bogatu, bronze medallists at the last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games in China, 2-1 (21-13, 19-21, 17-15) and continued their good run in the afternoon to beat Thailand’s 10th seeds Netitorn Muneekul/Wachirawit Muadpha 2-0 (21-17, 21-18). Another Iranian duo, Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab, also captured their first win on Thursday following their exceptional 2-0 (21-5, 21-7) triumph over Macao China’s Cheong Houwang/Ng Loilong in 27 minutes.
Meanwhile, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia and hosts Philippines all enjoyed mixed lucks on Thursday.
Australian second seeds Paul Burnett/Jack Pearse, who took silver at BPT season-opener in Mollymook and BPT Futures Coolangatta last month, got off to a brilliant start after their 2-0 (21-11, 21-15) win against New Zealand’s James Sadlier/Juraj Krajci in Pool B, but Australian fourth seeds Ben Hood/Potts D’Artagnan went down 0-2 (17-21, 19-21) to Philippines’ Alnakran Abdilla/Andre Joseph Pareja in Pool D.
Japanese sixth seeds Yusuke Ishijima/Kensuke Shoji proved too strong for Cheong Houwang/Ng Ioilong from Macao, China to mercilessly crush the unfancied rivals in a totally one-sided battle 21-8, 21-3 in 29 minutes in Pool F and 13th seeds Nassim Malki/Ryuichi Adachi recovered from the first set loss to beat Philippines’ Abdilla/Pareja 2-1 (13-21, 21-17, 15-12) in Pool D, but team-mates ninth seeds Hiroki Dylan Kurokawa/Kosuke Fukushima were beaten 0-2 (16-21, 19-21) by Indonesians Ardana Ketut/Hermawan Yogi in Pool H.
In Pool C, Thailand’s third seeds Surin Jongklang/Dunwinit Kaewsai outclassed Malaysians Looi Kaixu/Ler Weichun 2-0 (21-12, 21-15), but compatriots Netitorn Muneekul/Wachirawit Muadpha succumbed to 0-2 loss to Iranians Mirzaali/Abolhassan in Pool G. Chinese fifth seeds Li Zhouxin/Liu Cjhuanyong made a strong start in Pool E with an impressive 2-0 (21-18, 21-11) win against Singaporeans Eng Cheng Feng Renfred/Sasikumar Ranjiv.
Indonesians Yogi/Ardana bounced back from their first 0-2 (11-21, 9-21) loss to Philippines’ James Buytrago/Rancel Varga in Pool H to brush off Japanese Dylan/Fukushima 2-0 (21-16, 21-19), while the other two Indonesian pairings, Akbar Bintang/Efendi Sofyan and Danangsyah Pribadi/Yosi Firnanda, tasted their first wins in the Nuvali Open, with the former defeating New Zealanders Sadlier/Krajci 2-0 (23-21, 21-17) in Pool B and the latter sealing the 2-0 (21-14, 25-23) deal in their Pool C encounter against Malaysians Looi/Ler.
The pool plays of the double-gender competition continue on Friday, followed by the round of 16 and quarterfinals on Saturday. Semifinals and finals will take place on Sunday, followed by the awards presentation and closing ceremony.
MATCH RESULTS
MEN
WOMEN
MEN’S POOLS
WOMEN’S POOLS
MATCH SCHEDULE
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