Songkhla, Thailand, April 13, 2024 – Higher-seeded teams unlocked their hidden potentials to get their campaigns off to victorious starts on a searing Day 1 of the AVC Beach Tour 23rd Samila Open at the picturesque Samila Beach in this resort city on Saturday.
Despite the energy-sapping heat at the competition venue with maximum temperature ranging from 35 to 39 degrees Celsius on Saturday, strong teams claimed comfortable wins in their pool matches, with Thailand’s top seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato demolishing Japanese Kai Kurokawa/Ryota Sato 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) in the men’s event and Australia’s top seeds Stefanie Fejes/Jana Milutinovic, fresh from winning the last week’s AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open without dropping a set, mercilessly crushing Leong Onieng/Law Wengsam of Macao China 2-0 (21-11, 21-13) in the women’s competition.
Teen sensation Fejes, 19, and Milutinovic, 22, proved one of the strongest contenders for the women’s title to be reckoned with at this year’s Samila Open as the Aussies have already claimed seven wins out of eight tournaments they participated including the back-to-back Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta and BPT Futures Mollymook.
Following their convincing 2-0 win in Pool A on Saturday, the Australian duo will next take on Qataris Damla Yagmur/Maha Al-Kuwari, who have to play their first match on Sunday morning against Leong/Law. Early last month, Damla partnered Rehanna Al Tobaishi as the Qatar’s first women’s pair to compete at a major international beach volleyball event, but suffered early exit following their loss in the qualification, preliminary phase of the 2024 Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 – Doha, Qatar.
In Pool B, Australia’s second seeds Jasmine Fleming/Georgia Johnson also made their mark to cruise past Kazakhstan’s Anastassiya Ukolova/Mariya Peressetskaya 2-0 (21-19, 21-16).
Japan’s third seeds Asami Shiba/Saki Maruyama struggled hard to beat Thailand’s Rumpaipruet Numwong/Veeradakittikarn Wirakornkhayatimat in hard-fought three-set thriller 21-17, 27-29, 15-12 in exhausting 67 minutes in Pool C.
New Zealand’s fourth seeds Alice Zeimann/Shaunna Polley, the 2022 Asian champions and consecutive two-time BPT Futures Mt Maunganui winners, survived a scare from Ren Matsumoto/Non Matsumoto to edge past the Japanese duo 2-1 (21-17, 24-26, 15-7) in Pool D, while Vanuatu’s fifth seeds Linline Matauatu/Majabelle Lawac, winners at the recent Queensland Beach Volleyball Tour Finals in…
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