Roi Et, Thailand, September 14, 2022 – Strong teams from Japan, China and Australia put in great performances for two straight wins on action-packed Day 1 of pool round-robin preliminaries in the 2022 Asian Senior Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship at Ban Nong Ya Ma Community School competition site here on Wednesday.
Japan fielded three teams in the topflight championship and all of them have already secured their places in the round of last 16, while two teams apiece from China and Australia and one team each from Thailand and New Zealand also made the cut for that round.
Japan 1’s Miki Ishii/Sayaka Mizoe, silver medallists at the last year’s Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships in Phuket, Thailand and the last week’s AVC Beach Tour Roi Et Open at the same competition venue here, proved too strong for San Pinsin/Chong Yanyu to beat the Malaysians in a totally one-sided battle 21-1, 21-3 in Pool C. The Japanese made it two in a row following another convincing 21-17, 21-19 win against Thailand 4’s Patcharaporn Seehawong/Jidapa Bunongkhun on the same day.
The Malaysian duo succumbed to their second loss after going down 3-21, 9-21 in an easy encounter against China 3’s Yuan Luwen/Dong Jie to next play a must-win match on Thursday to keep their round of last 16 hopes alive. The Thai pairing had already beaten the Chinese 2-1, but the Chinese also made amends after 2-0 rout of the Malaysians.
In Pool G, Japan 2’s Akiko Hasegawa/Yurika Sakaguchi, who finished joint fifth at the last week’s AVC Beach Tour Roi Et Open, had already sealed two straight wins after outplaying Hong Kong China 2’s To Wingtune/Wong Manching 21-8, 21-13. They later struggled hard to beat Philippines 2’s Floremel Rodriguez/Genesa Jane Eslapor 21-16, 22-24, 15-12. In this pool, the Hong Kong China’s duo had already suffered two losses in a row as they later went down 14-21, 16-21 to Australia 3’s Alisha Stevens/Georgia Johnson.
Japan 3’s Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto and Australia 1’s Taliqua Clancy/Mariafe Artacho Del Solar, silver medallists at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, captured two wins in succession in similar fashion in Pool B. The former demolished Chinese Taipei 2’s Li Yunting/Hsu Chianing 2-0 (21-9, 21-9) and overcame Singapore 1’s Eliza Chong/Soh Cecilia 2-0 (21-6, 21-13), with the latter powering past the Chinese Taipei 2’s duo 2-0 (21-6, 21-6) and outclassing the Singapore 1’s pairing 2-0 (21-10, 21-12). Li Yunting/Hsu Chianing stand a little chance of making the cut for the next round due to their two straight losses.
In Pool F, Australia 2’s Nicole Laird/Phoebe Bell made a solid start with two wins in a row. They first routed Hong Kong China 3’s Lok Yingkiu/Ng Winglaam 2-0 (21-17, 21-12) before repeating the feat to beat Kazakhstan 2’s Laura Kabulbekova/Nadezhda Ivanchenko 2-0 (21-14, 21-9).
The Kazakh pairing earlier went down 0-2 (15-21, 17-21) in their opening clash against Vanuatu’s Toko Sherysyn/Majabelle Lawac. Losing two matches in a row, the Kazakhs found the going gets tough and their expectation to make the next round cannot be that high.
China 1’s Xia Xinyi/Lin Meimei, who got their campaign in Roi Et off to a disappoint start with a fifth-place finish at the last week’s AVC Beach Tour Roi Et Open, have already revived their fortunes in the Asian Championship here with two straight wins in Pool D.
In their opening encounter, the Chinese showed no mercy to Katie Sadlier/Maya Dickson to crush the New Zealand 3’s duo in a lopsided affair 2-0 (21-3, 21-7). Xia and Lin went on their fine form to beat Philippines 1’s Cherry Ann Rondina/Bernadeth Pons 2-0 (21-10, 21-11) for their second win in the top-tier competition, while the Kiwis lost their second match 0-2 (15-21, 15-21) against Thailand 3’s Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert/Charanrutwadee Patcharamainaruebhorn.
China 2’s Wang Xinxin/Zeng Jinjin, fresh from landing the last week’s AVC Beach Tour Roi Et Open, made their mark with two consecutive wins in Pool E. The Chinese first pulled off comfortable 2-0 (21-13, 21-14) victory against Chinese Taipei 1’s Hsu Yuchi/Sheng Tzuhsuan before seeing off Thailand 5’s Suchinna Choemphun/Apinya Saengpaeng 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) in their second clash. The Chinese Taipei 1’s pairing found the next round a tough mission as they had already suffered two losses including 0-2 (19-21, 15-21) in their second clash against New Zealand 2’s Olivia Macdonald/Jasmine Milton.
Thailand 1’s defending Asian champions Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee/Tarawadee Naraphornrapat, who picked up bronze at the AVC Beach Tour Roi Et Open, delighted home fans with two wins on the trot. The superb Thai duo first handed Singapore 3’s Ang Huiying/Ng Cheryl the first loss 21-8, 21-6 and brushed off Kazakhstan 1’s Alina Rachenko/Anastassiya Ukolova 21-16, 21-13 in their second Pool A encounter. Ang Huiying/Ng Cheryl suffered their second loss following their 10-21, 18-21 letdown to Hong Kong China 1’s Koo Yungyung/Dong Jie.
New Zealand 1’s Shaunna Polley/Alice Zeimann, who finished fifth at the AVC Beach Tour Roi Et Open last week, also had something to celebrate as they are quite certain of making the next round due to two successive wins in Pool H. The Kiwis beat Singapore 2’s Alicia Tan/Sharon Beh 21-9, 21-9 to next edge past Vietnamese Nguyen Le Thi Tuong Vy/Nguyen Vu Ngoc Lan 2-1 (21-11, 20-22, 15-11). Tan and Beh later succumbed to their second loss 5-21, 9-21 at the hands of Thailand 2’s Varapatsorn Radarong/Rumpaipruet Numwong.
The pool plays continue on Thursday morning, while the drawing of lots for the round of last 16 will be conducted shortly after completion of the preliminaries. The round of last 16 will take place in the Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the opening ceremony of the 2022 Asian Senior Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship took place at the competition venue in the Wednesday afternoon, with Roi Et Governor Phusit Somjit and Mr Somporn Chaibangyang, President of Thailand Volleyball Association, jointly presiding.
Also joining the ceremony was AVC Executive Director Mr Shanrit Wongprasert, Technical Delegate Mr Kritsada Panaseri and Referee Delegate Ms Mariko Satomi as well as officials and heads from Roi Et administrative divisions, representatives from sponsors, supporters and organisers.
In the colourful ceremony, flag bearers and students carrying banners of all participating teams led a parade of athletes into the competition venue.
After that, Mr Phusit delivered a welcome speech to all participants and hit the ball to mark the official kickoff of the 2022 Asian Senior Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship in Roi Et, followed by a beautiful Hawaiian Island Dance Show performed by young pretty students dressed in Hawaiian costumes.
TVA President Mr Somporn also took this opportunity to present AVC Plaques to generous sponsors and supporters who had thrown their full supports in helping organise the Asian Senior Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship in Roi Et.
Related links of AVC
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: www.twitter.com/AsianVolleyball
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation