Teams from Thailand dominate SAVA U19 Beach Championships with FIVB Volleyball Empowerment support

• Hosts Thailand dominate the podium in the women’s and men’s SAVA Southeast Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships with five out of six medals

  
  

• A pair from Vietnam secured men’s silver

  
  

FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported Thailand hosted last week’s Southeast Asian Volleyball Association (SAVA) U19 Beach Volleyball Championships at the Ban Nong Ya Ma Community School Courts in Roi-Et. Teams from the host country earned five of the six medals handed out at Sunday’s closing ceremony, which was presided over by Somporn Chaibangyang, President of both the SAVA and the Thailand Volleyball Association (TVA).

TVA’s beach volleyball department has so far been allocated a total of CHF 216,000 worth of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support and their national teams have been training under the guidance of Brazilian coach Adriana Bento.

Seventh-seeded Varagkhana Sogalee & Somruedee Koedkaew dominated the women’s tournament in Roi-Et. They swept all six of their matches in straight sets and crowned their victorious run with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-11) win over fourth-seeded compatriots Inthira Bunpasong & Suchipha Rittila in Sunday’s gold medal showdown (pictured in the main photo; credits: Thailand Volleyball Association). The silver medallists had also reached the final without dropping a single set along the way.

The third participating Thai pair also made it to the podium. Second-seeded Wannaparin Rodchuai & Orathai Sembut produced a 2-0 (21-13, 21-18) victory over sixth-seeded Alifa Zahwa Arifin & Mido Maya Saputri of Indonesia for the bronze.

Earlier on Sunday, Varagkhana & Somruedee defeated Alifa & Mido by 2-0 (21-17, 21-19), while Inthira & Suchipha beat Wannaparin & Orathai by 2-0 (21-7, 21-15) in the semi-finals.

Women’s results and standings

In the men’s tournament, an eight-match winning streak brought ninth-seeded Rueangrit Wiromrat & Suranath Rattanapolsaen to the top of the podium. While the Thai duo lost only a set during the first six games played in Roi-Et, they persevered through two three-set battles in both of their last two matches on Sunday. In the semi-finals, they outlasted eighth-seeded compatriots Chalermkeat Yangdee & Teeraphat Patang to claim a 2-1 (21-17, 20-22, 15-3) victory. After a narrow first two sets in the final against 10th-seeded Hoang Long Nguyen & Chanh Sa May Danh of Vietnam, Rueangrit & Suranath celebrated a 2-1 (19-21, 22-20, 15-7) comeback to clinch the title.

Chalermkeat & Teeraphat bounced back from their semi-final loss with a hard-fought 2-0 (22-20, 21-18) win over another team from Thailand, second-seeded Big Manyahong & Aphichat Thonghin, in the third-place match. Big & Aphichat, on the other hand, had lost the other semi-final to Hoang Long Nguyen & Chanh Sa May Danh after a three-set battle, 2-1 (17-21, 21-15, 15-12).

Men’s results and standings

Hosts Thailand sweep titles at South East Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships
Read more: https://t.co/vP181r9QPA#FIVB #VolleyballWorld #BeachVolleyball #SouthEastAsianU19BeachVolleyballChampionships #TVA #AVC #AVCVolley #AsianVolleyball #mikasasports_official #StayActive pic.twitter.com/lFCJN14vzk

A total of 11 men’s and eight women’s teams from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam took part in the four-day tournament, which preceded the Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships to take place at the same venue between 1 and 5 May.