Roi Et, Thailand, May 1, 2024 – Stronger and more cohesive teams braved a scorching Wednesday to kick off their campaigns in the 5th Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships with well-deserved victories on pulsating Day 1 at Ban Nong Ya Ma Community School Courts here, as participating players from 17 National Federations including joined the opening ceremony in the afternoon.
Young talents from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong China, Kazakhstan, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Iran, Qatar, Oman, Singapore, Maldives, Lebanon and hosts Thailand are now participating in the five-day competition, which serve as the qualification tournament for the 2024 FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships in Shangluo, China between August 27 to September 1. Only best five Federations in Roi Et will secure their berths in main draw of the world meet, with another four Federations contesting qualifying rounds.
It was a very hot day in Roi Et with scattered clouds on Wednesday and the temperature was a sweltering 42 degrees Celsius. However, the hot weather could not dampen participating players’ enthusiasm and spirit to give their utmost for the possible best performance in the three-day pool play.
In the men’s event, two teams apiece from Australia, China, Singapore and New Zealand successfully cleared the first hurdle in their respective pools. Australia’s second seeds Killian Donovan/Jett Rocker-Graham beat Lebanese pair of Bassam Kouzaiha/Anthony Jehi 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) in Pool B.
The 19th seeds Finley Bennett/Adam Fejes bounced back to beat Vietnam’s 14th seeds Nguyen Hoang Long/Danh Chanh Sa May, fresh from picking up silver at the last week’s South East Asian U19 Championships (SAVA U19) at the same venue here, with epic tiebreak win 21-23, 21-14, 20-18 in Pool C.
Australians Donovan/Rocker-Graham will next take on hosts Thailand’s hopefuls and 18th seeds Rueangrit Wiromrat/Suranath Ratanapolsaen, who captured gold medal at the last week’s South East Asian U19 Championships, on Thursday, with Bennett/Adam challenging Iranian third seeds Amir Ali Ghalehnovi/Kashani Habib Akbarzadeh, who powered past Thailand’s Supanai Uthaijaeng/Tanawat Wansungnoen 2-0 (21-11, 21-15).
China’s fourth seeds Song Jinyang/Sun Zhihao also tasted their first win in the biennial championships following their 2-0 (21-10, 21-17) rout of Vietnamese Ho Quang Huy/Nguyen Van Linh in Pool D, while teammates and 21st seeds Liu Yuan/Xu…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Asian Volleyball Confederation…