Langkawi, Malaysia, April 26, 2018 – Australia’s Brittany Kendall/Stefanie Weiler, Japan’s Chiyo Suzuki/Reika Murakami, Latvia’s Agnese Caica/Marta Ozolina and the Netherlands’ Katja Stam/Julia Wouters scored double victories in the qualification round on Thursday to secure spots in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Langkawi Open main draw.
Kendall/Weiler aced their first hurdle at Pantai Cenang against South Africa’s Luciana Pierangeli/Simone Sittig 2-0 (21-4, 21-9) and prevailed in the tougher second match against Denmark’s Line Hansen/Maria Tyndeskov 2-1 (21-16, 19-21, 15-13).
Japanese duo Suzuki/Murakami followed a similar winning pattern, as they defeated compatriots Minori Kumada/Yui Nagata 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) and Greece’s Dimitra Manavi, Konstantina Tsopoulou 2-1 (21-18, 19-21, 15-13).
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Dutch pair Stam/Wouters secured twin straight-set victories over Denmark’s Okholm Hansen/Helle Sondergard 2-0 (21-13, 21-12) and Germany’s Lisa Arnholdt/Leonie Welsch 2-0 (21-17, 21-19).
Meanwhile, Latvians Caica/Marta Ozolina beat Chinese Taipei duo Tzu-Yi Pan/Ya-Hsuan Yu 2-0 (21-13, 21-19) and took an easier route to the main draw when their next opponents, Sweden’s Sigrid Simonsson/Tadva Yoken, retired in the first set.