Pingtan, China, May 8, 2025 – Strong teams proved too strong for lower-ranked opponents to seal their first victories on the opening day of the AVC Beach Tour Pingtan Open at Beach Sport base of Pingtan, East Huandao Road here, with top seeds Shaunna Polley/Olivia MacDonald demolishing Kazakhstan’s Laura Kabulbekova/Nadezhda Ivanchenko 2-0 in pool play on Thursday.
In the women’s event, Kiwis Polley, 31, and MacDonald, 29, who claimed AVC Beach Tour Phu Yen Open in Vietnam in April and recently earned their team’s first Beach Pro Tour gold in Nuvali Futures in Philippines, pulled off a lopsided 21-9, 21-14 win against the 15th seeds Kabulbekova/Ivanchenko. However, as only two teams were featured in Pool B, both sides secured their round of 16 spot.
Australia’s second seeds and Nuvali Open champions Stefanie Fejes/Jastine Fleming downed Thailand’s Patcharaporn Seehawong/Salinda Mungkhon 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) in Pool C, but both teams advanced to round of 16.
Another Australian duo, third seeds Elizabeth Alchin/Georgia Johnson, defeated Vanuatu’s Lawac Majabelle/Sherysyn Toko 2-0 (21-18, 21-8) in Pool D and as only two teams competed in this pool, win or loss, both sides progressed to round of 16.
China’s fourth seeds Yu Tong/Jiang Kaiyue, packed off Kristina Karimova/Yekaterina Ryukhova 2-0 (21-9, 21-13). The Kazakhstan pair later succumbed to 0-2 (21-23, 8-21) loss to Thailand’s Charanrutwadee Patcharamainaruebhorn/Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert for two straight losses in Pool H and as a result, were eliminated from the four-day, double-gender tournament.
In Pool F, Japan’s 6th seeds Asami Shiba/Reika Murakami proved too hot for Ang Huiying/Lee Xinen Valerie to handle, brushing off the Singaporeans 2-0 (21-9, 21-16).
China’s fifth seeds Xue Chen/Zeng Jinjin outperformed Goh Rachael Yu Jie/Nur Azwa Qariesya 2-0 (21-7, 21-6) in their first match. The Malaysians later lost two in a row after going down 0-2 (9-21, 9-21) in a totally one-sided battle to Samila Open champions and 12th seeds Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto from Japan. The Chinese pair will next fight it out with the Japanese duo for the top spot in Pool E.
Meanwhile, only four matches were contested in the men’s event on Thursday. Thailand’s Banlue Nakprakhong/Dunwinit Kaewsai, bronze medallists at the Beach Pro Tour Songkhla Futures, got off to a good start with 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) win against Malaysians Kaixu Looi /Ler Weichun. The 5th seeded Thais will next take on Japan’s Yoshiumi Hasegawa/Hiroki Dylan Kurokawa, who are due to play the Malaysians early on Friday.
In Pool F, New Zealand’s sixth seeds Bradley Fuller/Ben O’Dea, who picked up silver medal at the 24th Samila Open in Thailand, ousted Liu Yuan/Mao Yuan 2-0 (21-15, 21-16), leaving the Chinese duo to next go up against Australia’s Nuvali Open silver medallists and 10th seeds Ben Hood/Oliver Merritt.
Iran’s 7th seeds Alireza Aghajanighasab/Abbas Pourasgari, bronze medallists at the last year’s Asian Championship, also faced a little problem in beating China’s Zhang Tai/Song Jinyang 2-0 (21-18, 21-12) in Pool G, while Wang Yangwei/Du Hongjun saved the pride for the host nation following their comfortable 2-0 (21-9, 21-14) victory over Hong Kong, China’s Lee Litfung/Cheukhei.
The pool play action continues on Friday in both men’s and women’s events, while drawing of lots for round of 16 will be conducted at competition venue 20 minutes after end of the last pool play match on Friday.
MATCH RESULTS
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MATCH SCHEDULE
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