Tuan Chau, Vietnam, May 10, 2018 - All the top seeds cruised through pool play and advanced to the single elimination bracket at the FIVB World Tour one-star Tuan Chau HaLong Open 2018 in Vietnam, with Japan dominating the action and getting all three of their teams directly into the quarterfinals.
Top seeds Sayaka Mizoe / Suzuka Hashimoto of Japan advanced on wins over Vietnam's Do Thi Hau / Hoang Thi Thanh Huyen 2-0 (21-12, 21-13) and Chinese Taipei's Nai-Han Kou / Pi Hsin Liu 2-0 (21-19, 21-18).
In a similar run through pool play, No. 2 seeds Yui Nagata / Minori Kumada of Japan shut out Vietnam's Thi Ha Nhi Phan / T. Bichvi 2-0 (21-12, 21-15) before sweeping Chinese Taipei's Ya-Hsuan Yu / Tzu-Yi Pan 2-0 (21-10, 21-11).
And Japan's third side in the Main Draw, Yukako Suzuki / Kaho Sakaguchi, seeded 12th, moved past the two Israel teams in the competition, edging 5th-seeded Sofia Starikov / Noy Chorin 2-1 (21-13, 18-21, 15-11) before bringing down Michal Barannik / Anita Deev 2-0 (21-17, 21-17).
Third-seeded Sara Olivova / Karolina Rehackova of the Czech Republic opened with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) sweep of Vietnam wild cards Thi Thanh Tram Nguyen / Nguyen Thi Mai, but had to fight off Denmark's Maria Elisabeth Tyndeskov / Line Trans Hansen 2-1 (21-13, 18-21, 15-12) and also get a direct berth in the quarterfinals.
The single elimination bracket in Tuan Chau begins on Friday, with the semifinals and finals scheduled for Saturday.
Quick links - Beach volleyball:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - Tuan ChauFIVB.com - Beach volleyballLatest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagram