Top seeds Fejes/Milutinovic convey their aura of invincibility with hard-fought win in all-Australians showdown
Photos courtesy of Xinhua
Fejes/Milutinovic
Iran’s Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab added another 320 AVC points to their AVC Beach Volleyball Ranking record after claiming gold with remarkable unbeaten streak at the “Smart” AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open, pulling off a stunning upset win against Thailand’s top seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato in the men’s final showdown at the world-class Nuvali Sand Courts by Ayala Land in City of Santa Rosa, Philippines on Sunday.
Men’s podium
Women’s medallists
In the women’s event, Australia’s 19-year-old Stefanie Fejes and Jana Milutinovic, 22, capped an amazing season with a perfect run in the four-day Nuvali Open, seizing another gold without dropping a set to their respective rivals. Following the resounding success in the Philippines, the superb duo had already won six out of seven tournaments they had contested this summer comprising the back-to-back Beach Pro Tour Futures Coolangatta, BPT Futures Mollymook, Australian Beach Tour Mollymook and Mahindra Australian Beach Volleyball Championships. The superb duo also claimed gold for Australia at the Solomon Islands-hosted Pacific Games late last year aside from picking up silver at the BPT Futures Maunganui in New Zealand.
Pourasgari/Aghajanighasab
For Pourasgari/Aghajanighasab, the exceptional victory at the Nuvali Open was their first-ever gold in the AVC Beach Tour. However, the Iranian duo had already made their mark in international beach volleyball competitions, helping their National Federation win the AVC Continental Cup – Central Zone last September. They also claimed bronze at the last August’s BPT Futures Wenzhou Cangan in China and fourth place at the last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games, making them the first Iranian pair ever to advance to the Asian Games semifinals.
Pitak/Poravid in gold-medal match against Iranians
Seeded 11th with 300 AVC points in hand, Pourasgari/Aghajanighasab kicked off their campaign on high note, mercilessly crushing Macao China’s Cheong Houwang/Ng Loilong 2-0 (21-5, 21-7) to later see off Japan’s sixth seeds Yusuke Ishijima Gottsu/Kensuke Shoji 2-0 (21-13, 22-20) for the top spot in Pool F. In the round of 16, the promising Iranians demolished Hong Kong China’s Wong Puilam/Lau Cheukyin 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) and continued their brilliance in the highly-anticipated quarterfinals….
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