China keep their flag flying high when both Chinese pairings stormed their ways into the semi-finals of the AVC Women’s Beach Volleyball Tour 2016 – Vietnam Tuan Chau – Ha Long Open, with Wang Xinxin/Ding Jingjing challenging the world U23 champions Mariafe Artacho Del Solar/Nicole Laird from Australia on Sunday.
Australia 1’s Artacho Del Solar/Laird, silver medallists at the last month’s Asian Championships at home at Manly Beach in Sydney who made a clean sweep of both titles on offer in Thailand in the Pak Bara Open in Satun and the Samila Open in Songkhla, did not lose a match to their respective rivals en route to the Sunday’s semi-finals.
Earlier on Friday, the Australian tandem struggled in their last pool round-robin preliminary match when they lost the first set to China 2’s Wang Xinxin/Ding Jingjing 19-21 to take the remaining two sets 21-14 15-5. Artacho Del Solar/Laird captured the top spot in Pool A, with Vietnam 3’s Mai Thi Hoa/Nguyen Thi Tiep and China 2’s Wang Xinxin/Ding Jingjing coming in respective second and third places.
China 1’s Chen Chunxia/Tang Ningya made a clean sweep in Pool B including the scintillating 21-15 21-9 win over Vietnam 2’s Nguyen Thi Thanh Tram/Tu Thi Thu Van on Friday. Thailand 1’s Ariya Laosaengsa/Kijja Khantarak finished second in the pool, with Vietnam 2’s Nguyen Thi Thanh Tram/Tu Thi Thu in third place.
In Pool C, New Zealand’s Julia Tilley/Alice Bain emerged as the top spot, followed by Japan 1’s Keiko Utara/Hiroko Matsuyama, Hong Kong’s Ng Tin Lai/Wong Yuen Mei and Indonesia’s Ragillia Nanda/Andriani Riski Dwi.
Australia 2’s Phoebe Bell/Becchara Palmer moved atop Pool D with a perfect sweep of three wins. On Friday, the Aussies outclassed Thailand 2’s Yodsaphat Pakham/Chanthira Khanok 21-11 21-14 before mercilessly crushing Vietnam 1’s Pham Le Tuyet Ngan/Le Thi Bich Vi 21-9 21-19. Japan 2’s Erika Habaguchi/Hisako Yamada finished second, with Vietnam 1’s Pham Le Tuyet Ngan/Le Thi Bich Vi and Thailand 2’s Yodsaphat Pakham/Chanthira Khanok in third and fourth places respectively.
In the Saturday’s quarter-finals, both teams from China made their mark to pull off their convincing wins over rivals, with China 1’s Chen Chunxia/Tang Ningya powering past Japan 2’s Erika Habaguchi/Hisako Yamada in comfortable straight sets 21-16 21-15. China 2’s Wang Xinxin/Ding Jingjing stunned Australia 2’s Phoebe Bell/Becchara Palmer, who capture the last week’s Palembang Open in Indonesia, in humiliating straight sets 21-12 21-16.
Also advancing were formidable Mariafe Artacho Del Solar/Nicole Laird, who had to be content with bronze medal in the Palembang Open in Indonesia last week. The Australia 1’s pairing on Saturday played a perfect match against Keiko Utara/Hiroko Matsuyama to beat the Japan 1’s duo in a totally one-sided battle 21-6 21-10 in just 25 minutes.
New Zealand’s Julia Tilley/Alice Bain secured a semi-final berth when they beat Vietnam 3’s Mai Thi Hoa/Nguyen Thi Tiep 2-1 (16-21 22-20 15-11).
On Sunday, the final day of the four-day competition, Australia 1’s Mariafe Artacho Del Solar/Nicole Laird take on China 2’s Wag Xinxin/Ding Jingjing in the first semi-final clash, with New Zealand’s Julia Tilley/Alice Bain taking on China 1’s Chen Chunxia/Tang Ningya. The third-place playoff is due to take place at 2pm local time, followed by the gold-medal match, the awards presentation and the closing ceremony respectively.
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