Chinese qualifiers meet in pool final in Tlaxcala

The women’s pool play at the Tlaxcala Challenge on the 2026 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour was completed on Thursday, with the eight pool winners booking direct tickets to the eighthfinals, and the runners-up and the third-placed teams moving on to the sixteenthfinal round. In one of the most interesting pools, two Chinese teams that came into the main draw from the qualification bracket won their opening matches and met one another in the pool final.

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Kadeliye Halaiti & Zhou Mingli, seeded 25^th in the 32-team main draw, started their Pool H campaign with a 2-1 (17-21, 21-14, 15-12) comeback win over eighth-seeded Mexican home favorites Susana Torres & Atenas Gutierrez. Meanwhile, 24^th-seeded Jiang Kaiyue & Dong Jie took out ninth-seeded Ren Matsumoto & Non Matsumoto of Japan in straight sets, 2-0 (21-14, 21-18), to set up an all-Chinese battle for the first place in the pool. Kadeliye & Zhou squeezed out a tight 2-0 (26-24, 21-18) victory and progressed straight to the eighthfinals. In that match, Kadeliye impressed with five kill blocks and two serving aces towards a match-high 30 points. Ren & Non defeated Torres & Gutierrez to join Jiang & Dong into the sixteenthfinals.

The highest-ranked Chinese pair, sixth-seeded Yan Xu & Xia Xinyi, however, suffered an upset in the Pool F final. 22^nd-seeded Americans Geena Urango & Megan Rice beat them to the first place in the pool in a 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) sweep, with Rice leading the way with five kill blocks and an ace towards an 18-point total. Poland’s Urszula Lunio & Natalia Okla delivered a nail-biting 2-1 (23-21, 18-21, 18-16) upset of Paraguayan Olympians Giuliana Poletti Corrales & Michelle Valiente in the third-place game to move on to the knockouts.

In the Pool E final, 12^th-seeded Jasmine Fleming & Elizabeth Alchin of Australia hammered out a 2-0 (21-11, 21-19) shutout of fifth-seeded Brazilians Verena Figueira & Thainara Feitosa. American qualifiers Kamila Tan & Katherine Reilly snatched the third place in a 2-1 (21-17, 13-21, 15-9) upset of Estonia’s Heleene Hollas & Liisa Remmelg.

In the other five pools, the highest-seeded teams lived up to their status and claimed their spots in the second elimination round.

Seventh-seeded Savannah Cory (Savvy) & Devon Newberry won the all-American Pool G final against Hailey Harward & Xolani Hodel by an emphatic 2-0 (21-15, 21-15). The other American duo in the pool, Jaden Whitmarsh & Kylie Kuyava-De Berg, were knocked out by German qualifiers Chenoa Christ & Sophia Neuss in the third-place match.

After two hard-fought sets, fourth-seeded Abby Van Winkle & Molly Phillips, also of the United States, dominated the tie-breaker against Lithuanian Olympians Monika Paulikiene & Aine Raupelyte and celebrated a 2-1 (21-19, 20-22, 15-6) victory in the Pool D winners match. USA’s Madelyne Anderson & Alaina Chacon finished third in the pool.

Yet another American team, third-seeded Sara Hughes & Allysa Batenhorst, prevailed in Pool C after a three-set battle in the final. They achieved a 2-1 (21-18, 15-21, 15-12) win over Emi van Driel & Mila Konink of the Netherlands with seven kill blocks from Batenhorst. Spain’s Ana Vergara & Sofía Gonzalez took third place.

Germany’s Melanie Paul & Lea Kunst, seeded second, put together a tough 2-0 (24-22, 21-17) victory over Romanian qualifiers Beata Vaida & Francesca Alupei to top the table in Pool B. A three-set battle unfolded for the third place. Finland’s Anniina Parkkinen & Valma Prihti survived in the competition after a 2-1 (18-21, 21-13, 15-9) comeback against US qualifiers Katie Lindstrom & Maria Belen Castillo.

Bracket leaders Claudia Scampoli & Giada Bianchi of Italy had a tough encounter with Czechia’s Katerina Pavelkova & Anna Pavelkova in the Pool A final, but managed to get the job done in straight sets, 2-0 (21-19, 25-23). Switzerland’s Annique Niederhauser & Menia Bentele finished third in the pool.

Both the sixteenthfinals and the eighthfinals in the women’s competition are set to be played on Friday. The competition day will serve off at 14:00 local time (20:00 UTC).

Beach Pro Tour Tlaxcala Challenge: schedule and results

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