Defending champions Indonesia pulled off comeback 2-1 win against archrivals Thailand in the men’s event, as Indonesia, Singapore in Pool A and Thailand, Vietnam in Pool B are assured of booking their semifinal berths in the women’s event of the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, which serve as the AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Phase 1 Southeastern Zone, at Otres Beach in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
Contesting the men’s Pool B, Poravid Taovato/Pithak Tipjan, who captured the gold medal at the FIVB Beach Pro Tour Subic Bay Futures in Philippines last December aside from picking up silver medal at the last month’s AVC Beach Tour 22nd Samila Open on home soil in Songkhla, gave Thailand a 1-0 advantage when the Thai duo narrowly edged past Pribadi Danangsyah/Ramadhan Gilang, bronze medallists at the last month’s AVC Beach Tour 22nd Samila Open and at the 2018 Asian Games on home soil, 2-1 (21-17, 18-21, 19-17) in exhausting 59 minutes.
However, Surin Jongklang/Dunwinit Kaewsai failed to make their mark in the Thailand’s second clash against Ashfiya Mohammad/Akbar Bintang, losing 17-21, 11-21 for 1-1 tie.
Dunwinit teamed up with Poravid in the Golden Match against Ashfiya/Bintang, but still found the Indonesian tandem too strong to go down 0-2 (14-21, 12-21) for the Thailand’s eventual 1-2 loss to Indonesia.
Following the win, Indonesia had 5 points from two straight wins, while Thailand claimed one point behind from one win against one loss to make a one-two finish in Pool B.
Cambodia lived up to home fans’ expectation to outplay Laos 2-0 in Pool A on Saturday. Thy Menghuong/Chuk Sophea handed the host side the 1-0 lead after crushing Saykhammoun Lid/Sanyalack Khampiene 2-0 (21-11, 21-12) before Sophon Pich/Narit Oem saw off Changthongdeng Chansabab/Phomachan Bounmixay 2-0 (21-12, 21-18) in 29 minutes.
The other Pool A clash saw in-form Vietnam continue their unbeaten run to beat Philippines 2-1. Nguyen Lam Toi/Quang Vu Tran struggled to beat Filipinos Abdilla Alnakran/Requinton Jaron 2-1 (21-18, 20-22, 15-12) to help Vietnam take an initial 1-0 lead.
Garcia Jude/Buytrago James gave Philippines a successful comeback with 2-1 (21-16, 20-22, 15-13) victory against Nguyen Thuyen/Van Nha Nguyen for a 1-1 tie. The Golden Match was also exciting as both teams fought it all-out. Nguyen Thuyen/Van Nha Nguyen played well against Garcia Jude/Requinton Jaron to narrowly edge past the opponents 2-1 (21-16, 16-21, 15-10) for the Vietnam’s…
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