Mersin, Turkey, May 4, 2018 – Varapatsorn Radarong and Tanarattha Udomchavee enjoyed one of their best FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour results when they knocked out Mersin 3-Star number one seeds Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar on Friday.
The Thai duo needed to hold their nerve as the Australians threatened to fight back, but they maintained their focus and Radarong secured a 2-1 (23-21, 15-21, 16-14) victory with a looping shot to the back of the court.
“That was a tough match because they are a good team,” Radarong said. “We felt good out there and we stuck together all the way through, but we are learning by being on the World Tour together.”
Their victory guarantees that Radarong and Tanarattha have now matched their best finish from a World Tour 3-Star tournament, which was a ninth-place finish from the Qinzhou 3-Star in October.
Radarong and Tanarattha have been on the Tour together since 2006 and they have twice won silver at the AVC Asian Beach Volleyball Championships.
They arrived in Mersin with few pre-conceived ideas, but after winning two matches on the same day they now stand one victory away from their first quarterfinals.
“This week we just want to feel good and happy with how we play. That is what we are thinking about. We don’t expect to win every match, but we want to be happy with how we have played.”
They weren’t the only team from south-east Asia that enjoyed a good day. In the men’s draw Indonesia’s Mohammad Ashfiya and Ade Rachmawan toppled Germany’s Alexander Walkenhorst and Sven Winter.
It was another close match, but after the Indonesians took the lead in the tie-break they held off the German duo’s comeback to win 2-1 (19-21, 21-18, 15-13).
“It was a good match and an incredible result because the Germans are a good team and it is the first time that we have beaten a team like that,” Ashfiya said. “At the end we were thinking about maintaining our belief and staying calm to keep going.”
Ashfiya and Rachmawan are making their World Tour debut this year, after they won silver at the 2017 AVC Asian Beach Volleyball Championships. Their best World Tour finish came at the 1-Star Satun tournament in Thailand where they won silver.
Their main focus for 2018 is adding another medal to their collection when Indonesia hosts the Jakarta-Palembang 2018 Asian Games.
“There are many good teams from around the world here and in Asia we have other good teams like Qatar, China and Japan,” Ashfiya said. “If we can beat a team like Germany, maybe we can beat a team like China or Qatar.”
For all the news and scores from the Mersin 3-Star click
here.