The “Taichung Bank” AVC Beach Tour Penghu Open is set to kick off on Thursday, August 17 at Aimen Beach, Penghu Islands in Chinese Taipei, with a strong field of 43 teams (22 men’s and 21 women’s teams) from 13 countries across Asia vying for top honor and AVC accumulated points.
The double-gender competition, which will be held from August 17 to 20, serves as the last AVC beach volleyball event from which players’ accumulated points will be taken for consideration and decision in their qualification for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships due to take place in Tlaxcala, Mexico from October 6 to 15, 2023.
The participating countries comprise Australia, Thailand, New Zealand, Qatar, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong China, Malaysia, Macao China, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Teams have been split into 8 pools apiece in both men’s and women’s events. The men’s event sees Pools A, B, C, D, E and F feature three teams apiece, with only two teams in Pools G and H. In the women’s category, Pools A, B, C, D and E feature three teams each, with Pools F, G and H having two teams apiece.
Teams will play pool round-robin preliminaries from August 17 and 18, with only top two teams from each pool in both men’s and women’s events advancing to Round of 16 on August 19. Quarterfinals will also be held on the same day, with semifinals and finals the following day.
Placed as the top seeds in the men’s event are Australians Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher, who captured gold medal in their first international event as a pair in the Gold Coast Beach Pro Tour Futures event Coolangatta in April and a well-earned 9th position at the Beach Volleyball World Championships Rome 2022.
Players start training at the competition venue
Thailand’s Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato, bronze medallists at the 2023 Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships in Fuzhou, China and the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Subic Bay Futures gold medallists in Philippines, are second seeds.
Another Thai pairing, Surin Jonglang/Dunwinit Kaewsai, are third seeds, with Kiwis Fuller Bradley/Nicklin Alani, fresh from picking up silver medal at the Wenzhou Cangnan Futures event in China a few days ago, being placed fourth seeds.
In the women’s event, Japan’s Miki Ishii/Sayaka Mizoe, who finished 4th place at this year’s Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships in China and 5th at the 2023 Volleyball Beach World Tour Itapema in Brazil, are top…
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