The men’s top three seeds and all women’s pool winners get through round of 16 unscathed on Friday, as Australia, Thailand and Japan reached their remarkable extent at the “Smart” AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open to dominate the action-packed Day 2 at the world-class Nuvali Sand Courts by Ayala Land in City of Santa Rosa, Philippines.
As strong teams fought their ways in pool play on Friday to secure their round of 16 spots, three teams apiece from Australia, Thailand and Japan advanced to the women’s elimination round, with two teams from New Zealand and one team each from Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Macao China, Hong Kong China and hosts Philippines joining the fray in the knockout stage.
In the men’s event, two teams each from Australia, Thailand, Japan, Iran, Philippines, Kazakhstan and Indonesia made the cut for round of 16, while Hong Kong China and China had one team apiece in that round. The electrifying round of 16 in both men’s and women’s events will take place on Saturday morning, followed by the afternoon quarterfinals.
On Friday, teams competed in their pools to vie for two berths on offer in each pool and their slots in Saturday’s round of 16. Australian top seeds Stefanie Fejes/Jana Milutinovic, who had already won six tournaments in a row this summer including the back-to-back Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta on home soil, had their job in Pool A well done with a sensational 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) win against Thailand’s 16th-seeds Rumpaipruet Numwong/Veeradakittikarn Wirakornkhayatimat.
However, with top two teams in each pool through to round of 16, both sides automatically advanced.
As only two teams were competing in Pool B, Australian second seeds Jasmine Fleming/Georgia Johnson and New Zealand’s Katie Sadlier/Meile-Rose Green also made it to round of 16. Jasmine Fleming/Georgia Johnson, who claimed bronze at BTP Futures Mollymook last month, topped Pool B following their speedy one-sided battle 2-0 (21-12, 21-7) just in 29 minutes against the Kiwis.
Japanese third seeds Asami Shiba/Saki Maruyama made a clean sweep in Pool C, with Desi Ratnasari/Nur Sari Atika in second place.
The Indonesian duo struggled to beat Kazakhstan’s Anastassiya Ukolova/Mariya Peressetskaya in hard-fought three-setter 21-13, 17-21, 15-12 on Friday, while Shiba/Maruyama outplayed the Indonesians 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) for two wins in a row.
Pool D was dominated by fourth seeds Suzuka Hashimoto/Reika Murakami, silver medallists at Beach Pro…
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