Teams from Thailand, Vanuatu and USA also mount Coolangatta podium
Stefanie Fejes in action at the Coolangatta Futures (source: volleyball.org.au / Rogue Gun Photography)
Ha Likejiang & Wu Jiaxin won their third consecutive gold on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. After topping the podiums in Sohar and Mount Maunganui Beach, the Chinese pair celebrated another victory at the Futures even in Coolangatta. An all-Australian women’s final pleased the home crowd, as Jana Milutinovic & Stefanie Fejes upset top-seeded Georgia Johnson & Jasmine Fleming on the way to the title.
Main draw action on Australian sand was streamed live on the **Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel**.
Thailand’s Pithak Tipjan & Poravid Taovato and bottom-seeded American qualifiers Jordan Hoppe & Charles Siragusa completed the men’s podium, while the women’s bronze went to Vanuatu’s Majabelle Lawac & Sherysyn Toko.
30-year-old Ha Likejiang and 29-year-old Wu Jiaxin went through the men’s main draw undefeated in five matches played. After winning Pool B, the second-seeded Chinese duo cruised through the knockout rounds without losing a single set: 2-0 (21-13, 21-17) over Australia’s Lucas Josefsen & Ben Hood in the quarterfinals, 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) over Hoppe & Siragusa in the semifinals, and 2-0 (21-9, 25-23) over Pithak & Poravid in Sunday’s final.
For the third-seeded Thai pairing of 24-year-old Pithank and 21-year-old Poravid, the Coolangatta silver was the second back-to-back and second overall medal on the Beach Pro Tour, after their Subic Bay Futures gold in December. They also reached the final match unbeaten, but had to resort to tie-breaker wins in both the quarterfinals and the semifinals – 2-1 (22-10, 18-21, 15-12) over Australian top seeds James Takken & Solomon Bushby and 2-1 (21-11, 19-21, 15-10) over German qualifiers Simon Kulzer & Bennet Poniewaz, respectively.
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