Osaka, October 8, 2017 – Indonesians Gilang Ramadan/Danangsyah Pribadi and Qataris Julio Donascimento/Ahmed Tijan Janko advanced to the men’s final, while Indonesia, Thailand, Australia and Japan booked women’s semi-final berths at the AVC Beach Volleyball Tour “Grand Front Osaka Open” on Sunday.
Indonesia’s Ramadan/Pribadi pulled off a surprise 2-1 (21-15, 13-21, 15-12) win over Qataris 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympians Jefferson Santos/Pereira Cherif Younousee in the men’s semi-finals. It was very first time for Ramadan/Pribadi to compete against Santos/Cherif. “Because our strategy worked very well”, Ramadan and Pribadi evaluated.
On the other semi-final encounter, Qataris Julio Donascimento/Ahmed Tijan Janko avenged the loss of their compatriots Donascimento/Janko to overcome Indonesians Ade Candra Rachmawan/Mohammad Asfiya, fresh from winning the South East Asian Beach Volleyball Championship in Singapore, 2-0 (21-14, 21-17). The final showdown and the bronze match duel will be the all Qatari-Indonesian battles.
In the women’s event, eight teams including four Japanese pairings made it to the quarter-finals, but Indonesians Dhita Juliana/Putu Utami, Thais Varapatsorn Radarong/Tanarattha Udomchavee, Australian Mariafe Artacho Del Solar/Taliqua Clancy and Japanese Miki Ishii/Megumi Murakami made their marks to enter the semi-finals.
After defeating hosts Takemi Nishibori/Ayumi Kusano 2-0 (21-18, 21-16), Australian new tandem of Artacho Del Solar/Clancy expressed satisfaction over their new partnership and the atmosphere in Japan. Artacho Del Sola said she totally enjoys the first-time experience spending in Japan, “I like the atmosphere of this special venue and I really love this country. We are very new team with only a month partnering each other, still experimenting the game style and finding new things. We are on growing. It’s very exciting. We hope to be good team, get good result, and participate in Tokyo 2020”.
The Grand Front Osaka Open kicks off the final day with the women’s semi-finals, followed by the men’s bronze and gold matches. The women’s bronze and gold matches will be contested later on ahead of the awards presentation and the closing ceremony.
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