Tianjin, China, July 12, 2024 – Excitement has reached fever pitch in the AVC Beach Tour Tianjin Open at Dongjiang Gulf Beach, Binhai here as qualified teams are ready to lock horns in intense round of 16 on Saturday morning to squeeze into the quarterfinals later in the afternoon.
China had four teams advancing to round of 16 in the men’s event, followed by Thailand and Australia with three teams apiece. The remaining two teams each came from Oman, Iran and Japan. The host country also had four teams qualifying for the round of 16 in the women’s event, while three teams each came from Thailand, Australia and Japan. Hong Kong, China had two teams and Singapore one.
In the women’s pool play on Friday, top seeds Akiko Hasegawa/Miki Ishii from Japan, who were instrumental in lifting Japan’s 2-1 victory against hosts China in the AVC Continental Cup Finals to secure a place in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, had mixed fortunes as they suffered their first loss at the hands of China’s eighth seeds Wang Fan/Bai Bing in exhausting three sets 18-21, 21-11, 12-15.
However, the Japanese made amends by beating Australia’s ninth seeds Jasmine Royner/Kayla Mears 2-0 (22-20, 21-18).
Chinese Wang Fan/Bai Bing, who also brushed off Thailand’s Rumpaipruet Numwong/Veeradakittikarn Wirakornkhayatimart 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) on Friday, topped Pool A with 6 points from a perfect sweep of three matches.
Japanese Akiko Hasegawa/Miki Ishii from Japan finished second with 5 points from two wins against one loss, while Australians Jasmine Rayner/Kayla Mears had 3 points from one win against two losses and winless Rumpaipruet and Veeradakittikarn from Thailand lost all three matches to have no point earned to finish third and fourth places respectively.
In Pool B, Australia’s second seeds Stafanie Fejes/Georgia Johnson, who captured gold medal at this year’s Samila Open in Thailand, had two wins on Friday, outplaying Chinese Yan Xu/Zhou Mingli 2-0 (22-20, 21-10) and beating Japan’s 10th seeds Riko Tsujimura/Takemi Nishibori 2-0 (21-16, 21-17)
Pool B was dominated by Australians Stefanie/Johnson with 6 points from three straight wins, while Chinese Yan Xu/Zhou Mingli finished second with 4 points from two wins against one loss. Japanese Riko Tsujimura/Takemi Nishibori and Hong Kong, China’s Wong Man Ching/Tsang Ngok Ling came in third and fourth places respectively.
In Pool C, China’s 11th seeds Wang Xinxin/Xing Jiayi remained unbeaten with 6 points from two consecutive wins. The Chinese duo on Friday powered past Thailand’s Patcharaporn Sehawong/Samitta Simrongnam 2-0 (21-15, 21-16) and also downed Australia’s Jasmine Fleming/Jana Milutinovic 2-1 (21-17, 21-18).
Japan’s sixth seeds Asami Shiba/Saki Maruyama finished second in Pool C with 4 points from two wins against one loss. Australia’s Jasmine Fleming/Jana Milutinovic finished third place with 3 points from one win against two losses and winless Thailand’s Patcharaporn Seehawong/Samitta Simrongnam ended in fourth place with no point claimed.
China’s fourth seeds Wang Jingzhe/Aheidan Mushajiang captured the top spot in Pool D with 6 points from three wins on the trot. The Chinese duo on Friday trounced Thailand’s fifth seeds Charanrutwadee Patcharamainaruebhorn/Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert 2-0 (22-20, 21-13) and defeated Hong Kong, China’s 12th seeds To Wing Tung/To Wing Man 2-0 (21-15, 21-16).
Charanrutwadee/Woranatchayakorn had 5 points from two wins against one loss to finish second in Pool D. Hong Kong, China’s To Wing Tung/To Wing Man and Singapore’s 13th seeds Eliza Chong/Tan Alicia Kai Yun finished third and fourth places respectively.
In the men’s event, Oman’s 13th seeds Hood Al Jalaboubi/Mazin Alhashmi were undefeated in Pool A with four points from two straight wins, while China’s Wang Yanwei/Liu Chuanyong came in second place with 2 points from one win against one loss. Chinese Wang/Liu on Friday overcame a strong challenge from Hong Kong, China’s Wong Pui Lam/Lau Cheuk Yin to beat them in three sets 22-20, 13-21, 16-14. The Hong Kong, China’s pair finished third with one point earned.
China’s Liu Jinqiu/Du Hongjun secured Pool B top spot with 3 points from one win against one loss, while Oman’s Haitham Alshereiqi/Ahmed Alhousni and Thailand’s top seeds Pithak Tipjan/Porvavid Taovato came in respective second and third places with 2 points apiece from one win against one loss.
Pithak/Poravid, who had captured their first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour medal in the Philippines in 2022 with a Subic Bay Futures gold medal, were exhausted in the three-set battle against China’s Liu/Du to beat them 21-15, 10-21, 21-19 in 55 minutes in Pool B. The Thai tandem later advanced to round of 18 to brush off Singaporeans Eng Cheng Feng Renfred/Caleb Ngoh in easy match 21-9, 21-11 in 29 minutes.
Australia’s third seeds Jack Pearse/D’Artagnan Potts, who captured their first Beach Pro Tour Futures event together last November in Geelong and captured the title at the 23th Samila Open in Songkhla, Thailand this year, downed Thailand’s Banlue Nakprakhong/Kittituch Khomkham 2-0 (24-22, 21-15) on Friday to top Pool C with 4 points from two straight wins, followed by Iran’s GhaleNovi AmirAli/Habib Akbarzadeh and Thailand’s 10th seeds Banlue/Kittituch with 2 points and no point respectively.
Australia’s fourth seeds Solomon Bushby/Ben Hood, who edged past Japan’s Nassim Malki/Ryuichi Adachi 2-1 (21-16, 9-21, 16-14) on Friday, maintained their top spot in Pool D with 4 points from two consecutive wins, while Japan’s 9th seeds Malki/Adachi finished second with 3 points and winless Singaporeans Eng Cheng Feng Renfred/Caleb Ngoh came in third position with no point claimed.
Iran’s 5th seeds Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab, who captured this year’s Nuvali Open in the Philippines to their name, topped Pool E with 6 points from three straight wins. Australia’s eighth seeds James Takken/Joshua Howat finished second with 5 points from two wins against one loss. China’s Zhou Chaowei/Salamu Alihemalti and Hong Kong, China’s Chong Kei Loi/Wong Ying Cheung ended in third and fourth places respectively.
On Friday, the Chinese duo crushed Hong Kong, China’s Chong/Wong in a totally lopsided battle 21-9, 21-9 in 29 minutes, while the Iranian pair struggled to beat Australians Takken/Howat in hard-fought three-setter 21-19, 21-23, 15-13.
Thailand’s 6th seeds Netitorn Muneekul/Wachirawit Muadpha emerged as top spot in Pool D with 6 points from three wins in a row. China’s Tang Xingyu/Yuan Xu finished second with 4 points from two wins against one loss. Japan’s 7th seeds Dylan Hiroki Kurokawa/Kosuke Fukushima had 3 points from one win against 2 losses and Singaporeans Wong Clement Jing Liang/Fernando Rehan Tharusha bagged no point from three straight losses to finish third and fourth places respectively.
The Chinese pair on Friday tamed Singaporeans Wong/Fernando 21-15, 21-13, while Netitorn/Wachirawit downed Japanese Dylan/Fukushima 2-0 (21-14, 22-20).
The AVC Beach Tour Tianjin Open continues on Saturday with the round of 16 encounters in both men’s and women’s events being held in the morning. The quarterfinals will take place in the afternoon.
MATCH RESULTS
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WOMEN
POOL RANKING
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WOMEN
MATCH SCHEDULE
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