Chon
Buri, Thailand, November 7, 2014 - Hosts Thailand enjoyed a mixed fortune in round of the last 16 of the US$50,000 Pattaya Thailand Challenger Beach Volleyball Tournament at Pattaya Beach on Friday, with top seeds Varapatsorn Radarong and Tanarattha Udomchavee advancing and eighth seeds Rumpaipruet Numwong and Khanittha Hongpak going down in a hard-fought battle.
The formidable duo of Varapatsorn and Tanarattha, the current Asian Beach Games champions who captured silver medal at the recent Asian Game in Incheon, South Korea, keep the Thai flag fly high when they pulled off a scintillating straight-set 22-20 21-16victory over Aussies Becchara Palmer and Zina Stone in an exhausting 52-minute affair.
With the sensational win, the Thais stormed their ways into the quarter-finals, where they are due to take on another Australian pairing, second seeds Nicole Laird and Mariafe Artacho. The Aussies, who took silver medal at the last week's Hong Kong Open, crushed Swedes Camilla Nilsson and Tadva Yoken 21-13 21-13.
Thailand's Rumpaipruet Numwong and Khanittha Hongpak had their dreams of making the cut for the quarter-finals shattered on Friday when they lost a thrilling 1-2 (18-21 21-16 10-15) match to Kazakhstan's fourth seeds Tatyana Mashkova and Irina Tsimbalova. The loss of Rumpaipruet and Khanittha resulted in only one Thai pairing left in contention.
The Kazakhs will next take on Vivian Danielle Da Canceicao Cunha and Zinaida Liubymova in the Saturday's quarter-finals. The Azerbaijan's duo thrashed Germans Anna Behlen and Katharina Culav 21-17 21-18 on Friday.
Tenth seeds Takemi Nishibori and Sayaka Mizoe came up with an impressive form to beat Erika Habaguchi and Megumi Murakami in the all-Japanese battle 21-17 21-13. They will next go up against Italian seventh seeds Giulia Momoli and Laura Giombini, who produced a magnificent come-from-behind 15-21 25-23 16-14victory over 18th seeds Raquel Goncalves Ferreira and Iuliia Karimova from Azerbaijan.
The other two pairings entering the quarter-finals of the five-day meet were Czech Republic's 14th seeds Diana Zolnercikova and Martina Jakubsova, who stunned fifth seeds Janne Kongshavn and Victoria Faye Kjalberg from Norway 21-16 22-20, and 11th seeds Miller Elwin and Linline Matauatu. The Hong Kong Open champions sent Eliska Galova and Michaela Vorlova from Czech Republic packing 21-8 21-12.
The quarter-finals will take place in the Saturday morning, with the winners testing their mettle in the afternoon semi-finals.