Tianjin, China, July 11, 2024 – Strong teams pulled off convincing wins on Day 1 of the AVC Beach Tour Tianjin Open at Dongjiang Gulf Beach, Binhai here, but Thailand’s top seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato surprisingly suffered a setback on their very first match with upset loss to Haitham Alshereiqi/Ahmed Alhousni in Pool B on Thursday.
Pithak/Poravid, who had captured their first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour medal in the Philippines in 2022, a Subic Bay Futures gold, and backed it up with silver at their next appearance on the Tour, at the Coolangatta Futures in March and April, succumbed to the upset 2-0 (16-21, 19-21) loss to the Oman’s 14th seeds, whom they had already beaten 2-1 in the first match of the final between Thailand and Oman in the recent AVC Continental Cup Semifinals in Ningbo Xiangshan.
Another daunting task awaits the Thai pair on Friday when they will next take on China’s Liu Jinqiu/Du Hongjun, who had already demolished the Omanis 2-0.
Also making a dismal start in Pool A on Thursday were China’s third seeds Wang Yanwei/Liu Chuanyong, who lost 0-2 (15-21, 11-21) to 13th seeds Hood Al Jalaboubi/Mazin Alhashmi. The Omanis had already claimed two wins in succession following his first victory 0-2 (21-18, 21-12) against Hong Kong, China’s Wong Put Lam/Lau Cheuk Yin. On Friday, Wong Pui Lam/Lau Cheuk Yin will go up against the Chinese duo.
Other higher seeds made their marks on the opening day, with Australia’s second seeds Jack Pearse/D’Artagnan Potts, who captured their first Beach Pro Tour Futures event together last November in Geelong and took the title at the 23th Samila Open in Songkhla, Thailand early this year, powered past 15th seeds GhalehNovi AmirAli/AkbarzadehKashani Habib from Iran 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) in Pool C.
Fourth seeds Solomon Bushby/Ben Hood of Australia spent 29 minutes in brushing off Eng Cheng Feng Renfred/Caleb Ngoh of Singapore 2-0 (21-9, 21-11), while Iran’s fifth seeds Abbas Pourasgari/Alireza Aghajanighasab, who claimed gold at the Nuvali Open in the Philippines, downed Chong Kei Loi/Wong Ying Cheung of Hong Kong, China 2-0 (21-15, 21-6). The Iranian duo went on their exceptional form to beat China Zhou Chaowei/Salamu Alhemalti 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) in their second clash.
Sixth seeds Netitorn Muneekul/Wachirawit Muadpha of Thailand also won two in a row on Thursday. They got their campaign off to a great start with their first 2-0 (21-15, 21-13) victory against Chinese Tang…
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