Palembang, Indonesia, April 20, 2016 – Strong teams enjoyed a field day after thrashing lower-ranked rivals on the opening day of the 5th South Sumatra Governor Cup AVC Beach Tour Palembang Open.

In the women’s competition, Australians Mariafe Artacho Del Solar/Nicole Laird got off to a brilliant start in Palembang following an easy 21-5 21-6 win over Singaporeans Tan Shiang Theng/Wei Yu Ong from Chinese Taipei in the totally one-sided battle in Pool C. The Aussies, the current world U23 champions, had a double delight in Thailand after a clean sweep of both titles at the Pak Bara Open from April 9 to 11 in Satun and Samila Open between April 14 and 16 in Songkhla.

Strong contenders from Thailand, Varapatsorn Radarong/Tanarattha Udomchavee, silver medallists at the Samila Open, were also in devastating form. The Thai tandem, silver medallists at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Korea and at the Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand the same year, outclassed Singaporeans Lee Gladys/Chong Hui Hui Eliza 21-5 21-5 in Pool D, while Kazakhstan’s Tatyana Mashkova/Irina Tsimbalova, gold medallists at the Asian Beach Games in Thailand, pulled off a comfortable 21-17 21-15 victory over Indonesians Desi Ratnasari/Yokebed Purarieka in Pool B.

The Kazakh duo later on the same day went on their dazzling performance to thrash Japanese Tanaka Shinako/Fujii Sakurako 21-13 21-16.

Indonesians Dhita Juliana/Putu Dini Jasita Utami had a mixed luck on the first day of the competition when the host side first crushed New Zealand’s Julia Tilley/Alice Bain 21-6 21-11, but went down fighting in a tougher task against Australians Bell Phoepe/Becchara Palmer in a hard-fought three-set battle 21-16 16-21 10-15.

In the men’s event, Australians Isaac Kapa/Christopher McHugh, gold medallists at the Pak Bara Open in Satun, tamed Filipinos Jade Becaldo/Hachaliah Gilbuena 21-12 21-16, while two Thai pairings snatched their first-day wins on Wednesday, with Surin Jongklang/Dunwinit Kaewsai thrashing Maldives’ Adnan Abdul Hameed/Adam Naseem in straight sets 21-6 21-10 and Kitti Duangjinda/Sedtawat Padsawud struggling to beat Indonesia’s Ramadhan Gilang/Fahriansyah in gruelling three sets 21-16 13-21 16-14.

Japan’s Yuki Dogi/Takashi Tsuchiya powered past Ahmed Anil Naseer/Shiunaz Abdul Wahit of Maldives 21-16 21-16 and New Zealand’s Ben O’Dea/Tom Hartles overcame a strong challenge from Wang Chin Ju/Juan Shang Hsuan to beat the Chinese Taipei duo 21-14 27-29 15-8.

A total of 22 men’s teams have been split into eight pools from Pool A to Pool H, with Pool A and Pool B featuring only two teams apiece. The remaining pools have three teams apiece.

In the women’s event, a total of 16 teams will be divided into four pools of four teams apiece.

A total of 38 teams from 13 countries including 22 men’s teams are taking part in the three-day tournament from April 20 to 23. The participating countries comprised Australia, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Qatar, Oman, Hong Kong, Maldives, the Philippines, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, Thailand and hosts Indonesia.

The pool round-robin preliminaries in both men’s and women’s events continue on Thursday.