Osaka, October 6, 2017 – The inaugural AVC Beach Volleyball Tour “Grand Front Osaka Master” started on Friday with exciting performances of Asian star players.
Under the tough weather condition with heavy rain and strong winds, all 20 matches were played as scheduled.
Qatari 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympian Jefferson Santos Pereira/Cherif Younousee swept Hong Kong’s Pok Man Yeung/ Kam Lung Chui 21-4, 21-12. Indonesian duo Ade Candra Rachmawan/Mohammad Asfiya beat Chinese Taipei’s pair Ya-Jen Hsieh/Chin-Ju Wang 21-16, 21-15, while Japan’s Yoshiumi Hasegawa/Yu Koshikawa triumphed against Singapore’s Mark Shen/Peijie Poon with comfortable win 21-14, 21-18. Hasegawa delighted their win in the home country, “We can play in our country, so we aim to finish this tournament above 9th place.”
Tough weather condition gave “beach volleyball rookie” Koshikawa a great hint, “It’s really my first time to play in such a difficult condition with rain and winds. This gave me an opportunity to grow up”.
As the women’s side, Kazakhstan’s Tatyana Mashkova/Bakhtygul Samalikova gained straight win against Japan’s Yui Nagata/Minori Kumada by overcoming deuces in two sets 23-21, 25-23. Thai Rumpraipuet Numwong/Khanittha Hongpak cruised past Japanese veteran duo Takemi Nishibori/Ayumi Kusano by 2-1 (17-21, 21-18, 16-14).
Japan’s Sayaka Mizoe led her new teammate Suzuka Hashimoto to the victory against Tzu-yi Pan/Y H Yu from Chinese Taipei with straight-set victory 21-9, 21-11. Hashimoto showed her happiness with the debut, “I’ve been too much nervous about the match. The wind was tough, so we focused on our play not to be rough. It was the reason we won today”.
On the second day, October 7, the Grand Front Osaka Master continues Men’s and Women’s Pool Play. In the afternoon, Men’s top 8 teams are determined by Round of 16 matches.
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