Roi Et, Thailand, May 2, 2024 – As northeastern part of Thailand and Roi Et in particular is currently sweltering under scorching temperatures, the unrelenting heat was likely to affect the players’ performances which saw strong teams start to underperform on Day 2 of the 5th Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships at Ban Nong Ya Ma Community School here.
Temperatures in this northeastern province still soared to record highs up to 41 degrees Celsius on Thursday. However, the searing sun could not dampen the enthusiasm of all participating teams jumping on the hot sand for the tough contest.
Hosts Thailand enjoyed mixed fortunes on Thursday, with all men’s teams suffering setbacks to go down to their opponents in respective pools and all women’s pairs pulling off dramatic wins. Powerhouses such as Australia, China, Iran and Japan also had a mix of skills and lucks, with one team winning and another one losing.
In the men’s event, Thailand’s top seeds Big Manyahong/Aphichat Thonghin suffered their first loss on Thursday, going down in nail-biting 1-2 (21-16, 22-24, 14-16) to Lebanon’s 17th seeds Hadi El Chabib/Jad Abi Karam in Pool A.
Another Thai pairing, 18th seeds Rueangrit Wiromrat/Suranath Ratanapolsaen, fresh from winning the Southeast Asian (SAVA) U19 Championships at the same competition venue here, found Australia’s second seeds Kilian Donovan/Jett Rocker-Graham too strong to go down in thrilling three-setter 15-21, 21-18, 9-15 in Pool B.
In Pool C, Thailand’s Supanai Uthaijaeng/Tanawat Wansungnoen, earlier beaten by Iranian third seeds Amir Ali Ghalehnovi/Kashani Habib Akbarzadeh 0-2 in their first match, lost two in a row on Thursday. The Thai 30th seeds bowed out after sustaining an injury in a match against Vietnamese Nguyen Hoang Long/Danh Chanh Sa May, silver medallists at the SAVA U19 Championships.
The other Pool C encounter saw Australians Finley Bennett/Adam Fejes succumb to their first loss to Iranians Ghalehnovi/Akbarzadeh, going down 1-2 (14-21, 21-16, 15-17) in exhausting 57 minutes. However, in their third match against Supanai/Tanawat on Friday, the Aussies are quite certain of emerging triumphant without sweating as the injury-hit Thais had already pulled out of the competition.
Meanwhile, China’s fourth seeds Song Jinyang/Sun Zhihao made it two in succession following their 2-0 (21-11, 21-18) demolition of Iran’s Mohammad Rasool Bastegani/Kiarash Bagheri in Pool D, but compatriots and 21st seeds…
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