Songkhla, Thailand, April 12, 2024 – Big names from Australia, Iran, New Zealand, China, Japan, Vanuatu and Thailand have been confirmed for the double-gender AVC Beach Tour 23rd Samila Open, due to be held at the tranquil, beautiful and clean Samila Beach here from April 13 to 16, the Thai New Year period which was transformed into national holidays when nationwide celebrations are famous for the public water fights framed as ritual cleansing.
Songkhla Deputy Governor Mr Amnuay Pinsuwan and Thailand Volleyball Association President Mr Somporn Chaibangyang jointly presided over the General Technical Meeting at BP Samila Beach Hotel & Resort on Friday to finally confirm the competition, refereeing and relevant issues ahead of the kickoff of the four-day event on April 13.
Attending as guests of honor were Honorary Life President of TVA Mr Shanrit Wongprasert, himself AVC Executive Director, and AVC Referees Committee Chairman Mr Songsak Chareonpong.
A total of 55 teams featuring 29 men’s and 26 women’s teams from 17 countries (Australia, Japan, Iran, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Hong Kong China, Macao China, Qatar, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, China, India and Maldives) also joined the meeting to hear the key topics including competition rules and regulations from Technical Delegate Mr Kritsada Panaseri from Thailand, Referee Delegate Mr Aprelius Balebu from Indonesia and Ms Nattalida Sumdangdech from AVC Beach Volleyball Department.
At the end of the meeting, all participating teams received souvenirs including highly fashionable and extravagant floral shirts from the Songkhla Deputy Governor to be worn on Songkran Day, which falls on April 13. All players are allowed to join the fun-packed festival in a water fight at the hotel vicinity from 6pm. They can collect water in buckets, squirt guns and anything else they can find, then playfully splash water to each other.
Meanwhile, Iran’s 13th seeds Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab, who claimed their first-ever AVC Beach Tour in Nuvali Open in Philippines last week, have their sights firmly on their second AVC Beach Tour gold in Songkhla. However, a strong challenge can be expected from Thailand’s top seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato, China’s second seeds Ha Likejiang/Wu Jiaxin, Australia’s third seeds Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher and fifth seeds Paul Burnett/Jack Pearse and Kazakhstan’s 12th seeds Dmitriy Yakovlev/Sergey Bogatu.
The 25-year-old…
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