Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei, August 26, 2024 – Top seeds lived up to their billing at the “Taichung Bank” AVC Beach Tour Taoyuan Open at Dayuan Beach Volleyball Court here on Monday, as Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato and Stefanie Fejes/Georgia Johnson captured the respective men’s and women’s titles.
In the men’s showdown, Thailand’s top seeds Pithak/Poravid mastered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-17) shutout of second seeds Jack Pearse/D’Artagnan Potts and left their opponents from Australia with the silver.
Fejes/Johnson topped the women’s podium following their 23-21, 21-17 victory against second seeds Jasmine Fleming/Jana Milutinovic in the all-Aussies final clash.
Fejes/Johnson entered the four-day tournament in Chinese Taipei as the top seeds in the women’s main draw bracket, cruised to the final undefeated and captured the women’s crown on a five-match winning run without dropping a single set.
Current FIVB women’s beach volleyball world No.60, Fejes/Johnson made a clean sweep in Pool A with sensational 2-0 wins against Thailand’s Jidapa Bunongkhun/Salinda Mungkhon and Long On Ieng/Law Weng Sam of Macao, China to advance to the quarterfinals, where the Australian duo repeatedly beat Thais Jidapa/Salinda 2-0 to storm into the semifinals.
Fejes/Johnson demolished Thailand’s third seeds Charunrutawadee Patcharamainaruebhorn/Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert 2-0 in the semifinals to next face off against world No.75 Jasmine Fleming/Jana Milutinovic in the final showdown, which Fejes/Johnson powered past the compatriots 2-0 to eventually reign supreme.
Earlier this year in June, Fejes and Johnson had won their first Futures event as a team, taking out the event in Krakow, Poland where the newly-formed combination were playing just their fourth tournament together. Both players have won Futures golds before with previous teammates. For the 19-year-old Fejes, it was already the fourth Futures trophy in her collection. She took all previous three in a partnership with Jana Milutinovic at tournaments played in Australia – Coolangatta 2023, Mollymook 2024 and Coolangatta 2024.
This April, Fejes and Milutinovic outplayed Fleming and Johnson to capture the women’s crown in the AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open in the City of Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines, while the 25-year-old Johnson’s only previous gold on the Beach Pro Tour was also earned in Australia, at the 2023 Geelong Futures with Jasmine Fleming.
Fejes and Milutinovic switched…
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