Japan reigned supreme in the Women Finale for FIVB Beach Volleyball Tour with Satono Ishitsubo and Asami Shiba topping the All- Japan Finals Match while Thai Team of Narongdet Kangkon and Banlue Nakprakhong topped the Men’s Category and preventing a sweep by Japan of the top prizes.
All-Japan Women Finale
BORACAY – Satono Ishitsubo and Asami Shiba made short work of Sakurako Fujii and Minori Kumada, 21-14, 21-18 to capture the gold medal in an all-Japan finale Sunday in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Boracay Open presented by Globe at the White House Beach Station 1 here.
Shiba capped their unbeaten run with Ishitsubo in the four-day tournament organized by the Beach Volleyball Tournament with a drop shot to foil Fujii and Kumada’s bid to extend the match. Chalking up their second career victory, Shiba and Ishitsubo displayed their superior skills on offense and defense that made them No. 86 in the world in front of a packed Sunday crowd that filled the beachfront in this island resort’s first sporting event since last October’s reopening.
In the semifinals, Japan assured of winning a second straight Beach World Tour women’s gold in the Philippines as Ishitsubo and Shiba swept Brittany Kendall and Stefanie Weiler of Australia, 21-16, 21-17, and Sakurako and Kumada topped Tjasa Jancar and Tjasa Kotnik of Slovenia, 21-15, 18-21, 19-17. Kendall and Weiler nipped Jancar and Kotnik, 24-26, 21-13, 15-13, to claim third place.
The Philippines matched its fifth place finish in the Manila Open last year behind Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons. The country has shown improvement in the Beach World Tour, with Bea Tan and Dij Rodriguez making it to the Round of 12, while Jackie Estoquia and DM Demontaño putting up a tough fight against the tough Russian pair of Ekaterina Filina and Ekaterina Zazhigina before exiting in pool play.
Thai’s Rally to Get Men’s Gold
Narongdet Kangkon and Banlue Nakprakhong of Thailand took the men’s gold by topping Japanese qualifier Yuya Ageba and Nobuaki Taira, 19-21, 22-20, 15-8. The Thais rallied in the second set after their opponents first reached championship point to force a decider which they dominated.
Ageba and Taira overcame Simon Baldauf and Maximilian Trummer of Austria, 21-17, 16-21, 15-12, in a thunderstorm-delayed semifinals while Narongdet and Banlue thwarted an all-Japanese men’s final with a 18-21, 21-18, 19-17 win over Jumpei Ikeda and Katsuhiro Shiratori. Ikeda and Shiratori rallied from a set down to outlast Baldauf and Trummer, 16-21, 26-24, 16-14, and clinch the bronze medal.
The event was made possible with the collaboration of Beach Volleball Republic And FIVB together with its partners E-plus , Globe, Havaianas, Royal Air, Chic n Honey, Mikasa,One of a Kind Marketing, MASA Ati School, LGU of the Municipality of Aklan,Boracay Island Water Company, Foton Philippines, Standard Insurance , Boracay Foundation Inc., DILG, DOT, DENR, White House Beach Resort , Azalea Home Of the FIVB Ph National Team and LVPI. ABS-CBN is the media partner for this event.