The Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships are set to start tomorrow in beautiful Phuket, Thailand. Nineteen women’s teams and twenty-three men’s teams will compete for the continental crown.
Qatar headline the men’s field
The world’s top ranked team, Ahmed Tijan and Cherif Samba are the heavy favorites to lift the men’s crown. They were the champions in 2018 and 2019, but didn’t play in the 2020 championships. The second seed on for the men is last year’s winner Chris McHugh and new partner Paul Burnett. McHugh has won been the Asian champion three times, also winning in 2014 and 2016. Last summer in Tokyo, he and Damien Schumann almost pulled off a shocker against Anders Mol and Christain Sorum, so don’t count the big man and with his new partner out against Qatar.
The men’s field will be divided into eight pools with the winner of each pool advancing to the quarterfinal round.
In addition to Australia and Qatar, this tournament has been won by teams from Iran, China, Kazakhstan and Indonesia since it started in 2002. All of those countries, plus hosts Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Oman and Japan have teams playing this time.
Asia guaranteed a new women’s champion
Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy aren’t competing and all of China’s powerhouse partnerships are absent, too. That leaves a very competitive battle for the championships and a chance for some new faces to shine.
The last 12 Asian women’s championships have gone to either China or Australia. There are some strong Aussie teams playing this time, but this could be the best chance in many years for another country to break through. There is sure to be a first time champion, no matter what.
The top seed is Japan’s Miki Ishi and Sayaka Mizoe. Miki represented Japan at her home Olympics last summer, but has recently begun a partnership with Sayaka. They looked very good together in Itapema, where they were eliminated in the second round by Rebecca and Talita of Brazil 20-22, 13-21. Akiko Hasegawa and Yurika Sakaguchi are the third seed with equal ranking points to Thailand’s Varapatsorn Radarong and Tanarattha Udomchavee.
Impressive Kiwis Shaunna Polley and Alice Zeimann look to announce themselves to the world this week. They are the sixth seed, but could definitely end up on the podium. Australia sends three teams, with Phoebe Bell and Georgia Johnson their best hope at bring the Continental Championship back home. They are the 8th seed. And don’t forget about the hosts top team Varapatsorn Radarong and Tanarattha Udomchavee. For a full list of teams, check out the AVC page here.
The women compete in four pools with two teams from each pool advancing to the quarterfinals. The knockout rounds for the men and the women start on Thursday, November 25th. The gold medal matches will be played on Saturday the 27th.
Phuket Sandbox
The Asian Championships coincide with the province’s effort to bring back tourism to their beaches. The Phuket Sandbox initiative allows fully vaccinated visitors to enjoy the area immediately upon arrival. Quarantine periods after arrival have been the norm since Covid began.