The “Taichung Bank” 2023 AVC Beach Tour Penghu Open at Aimen Beach, Penghu Islands in Chinese Taipei hit fever pitch again on Saturday when well-qualified teams strutted their stuff in action-packed Round of 16 and quarterfinals to keep their semifinals hopes alive in the four-day, double-gender competition.
In the women’s event, Japanese top seeds Miki Ishii/Sayaka Mizoe, fourth place at this year’s Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships in Pingtan, China, continued their remarkable unbeaten run in the Penghu Open following their 2-0 (21-15, 21-11) win against Thai pairing Charanrutwadee patcharamainaruebhorn/Woranatchayakorn Phirachayakrailert in Round of 16 to next take on hosts Chinese Taipei’s Yu Ya-Hsuan/Pan Tzu-Yi in the afternoon quarterfinals.
Yu and Pan also proved too strong for Tam Kin Teng/Lei Keng Lai to cruise past the Macao, China duo 21-12, 21-6 in 26 minutes in the Round of 16 earlier.
Asked if they felt pressure playing the superb Japanese duo later in the afternoon, Yu Ya-Hsuan said, “The Japanese team are very strong, and frankly, we are under pressure. However, no matter which opponents we will take, we will give it all out to play the game well.”
In the quarterfinal clash later on the same day, Ishii and Mizoe remained unstoppable as they outplayed Yu and Pan, the hopes of the host nation in the women’s competition, 21-15, 21-15 to enter the Sunday morning’s semifinals.
Another Japanese pairing, second seeds Akiko Hasegawa/Yurika Sakaguchi, who struggled to beat Philippines’ Floremel Rodriguez/Jane Eslapor Genesa 22-20, 26-24 in Round of 16, also entered the semifinals following their sensational 2-0 (21-18, 21-8) win against Hong Kong, China’s To Wing Tung/Wong Man Ching in the quarterfinals.
Akiko and Yurika will next challenge sixth seeds Jana Milutinovic/Stefanie Fejes, who bounced back from the first-set down to stun third seeds Georgia Johnson/Jasmine Fleming in three-setter 6-21, 21-12, 15-9 in the all-Australians affair.
Vanuatu’s Majabelle Lawac/Sherysyn Toko also booked their semifinal berth after comeback 2-1 (19-21, 21-18, 16-14) win against Thailand’s Rumpaipruet Numwong/Galchananan Jirutchayabhornwadee in the quarterfinals. Lawac and Toko will face off against Japan’s Ishii and Mizoe in the Sunday morning’s semifinals.
In the men’s event, Australia’s top seeds Mark Nicolaidis/Izac Carracher, second seeds Pithak Tipjan/Poravid Taovato of Thailand, New Zealand’s fourth…
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