Songkhla, Thailand, September 21, 2022 – Strong teams got the AVC Beach Tour 21st Samila Open off to winning starts, as hosts Thailand won all matches contested on the action-packed opening day of the double-gender event on Samila Beach here on Wednesday.
The five-day AVC Beach Tour 21st Samila Open on Samila, a 3km stretch of white sand beach in the popular tourist town of Songkhla in southern Thailand, is the fourth beach volleyball event held in Thailand this year which included the first three in Roi Et – the Asian U19 Championships during June 2 and 5, the AVC Beach Tour Roi Et Open from September 10 to 12 and the Asian Senior Women’s Championship between September 15 and 17.
In the women’s event on Wednesday, the 2021 Asian champions Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee/Taravadee Naraphornrapat from Thailand, who also picked up bronze medal at the Roi Et Open, made a strong start as the Thai duo spent only 22 minutes in demolishing Indians Vutkuri Aishwarya/Pittala Srikruti in a totally one-sided battle 21-3, 21-7 in Pool A.
They made it two in a row later on the same day after powering past Vietnamese Chau Ngoc Lan/Dinh Thi My Nga 21-13, 21-14 in their second encounter.
The Vietnamese pairing enjoyed a mixed fortune as they earlier brushed off Hong Kong China’s Koo Yungyung/Au Yeung Waiyan 21-18, 21-18 in their first match.
In Pool B, Japan’s Akiko Hasegawa/Yurika Sakaguchi also made it two for two. They first cruised past Hong Kong China’s Lo Waiyan/Yuen Tingchi 21-13, 21-7 before stretching it two in a row following their solid 21-12, 21-16 win against Indonesia’s Sari Nur/Hartati Sari.
Thailand’s Suchinna Choemphun/Apinya Saengpaeng routed Chinese Taipei’s Li Yunting/Hsu Chianing 21-14, 21-7 in Pool C. The Chinese Taipei’s duo later succumbed to their second defeat at the hands of Australians Nicole Laird/Phoebe Bell to go down 6-21, 8-21.
In Pool D, Thailand’s Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert./Charanrutwadee Patcharamainaruebhorn tasted their first victory in the Samila Open after downing Hsu Yuchi/Sheng Tzuhsuan 21-9, 21-16. The Chinese Taipei’s duo suffered their consecutive two losses following their easy 8-21, 12-21 letdown to Australians Alisha Stevens/Georgia Johnson.
In the afternoon session, heavy rains interrupted the on-going competition, but failed to dampen the players’ enthusiasm as some men’s matches continued in the heavy downpour.
Local men’s pairings also sealed their victories on the…
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