Ulsan, Korea, July 19, 2018 – Main draw action at the Ulsan women-only one-star stop on the 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour got underway on Thursday with the lower seeds winning three of the four matches played.
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In Pool C, 14th-seeded Miyuki Matsumura and Samaa Miyagawa of Japan delivered a 2-0 (21-17, 22-20) shutout of third-seeded W.Y. Au Yeung/Yuen T.C. of Hong Kong. In the other match of the pool, Russia’s Valeria Filkova and Ekaterina Filina, seeded 11th, mastered a hard-fought straight-set 2-0 (21-14, 26-24) victory over Chinese Taipei’s Ya-Hsuan Yu and Tzu-Yi Pan, seeded sixth.
A moment from the match between Russia and Chinese Taipei
13th-seeded Canadians Rian Lenarduzzi and Laura Condotta disappointed the home fans with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) win over Korean favourites Hyunji Kim and Eun-Mi Si in the first Pool D game. Pronsuda Kritsana and Yodsaphat Pakham were the only team who lived up to their higher seed status on Thursday. The fifth-seeded Thai duo cruised to a 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) victory over 12th-seeded Diong Zhi Ling and Shu Woon Joo of Malaysia in the other match of the pool.
Canada take on Korea in Ulsan
The winners of these four matches have secured their spots in the direct elimination phase and will play against each other within each pool on Friday for the direct tickets to Saturday’s quarterfinals. Action in Pools A and B will also take place on Friday.