Six eighthfinalists in Shangluo already known

The 2026 AVC Beach Volleyball Asian Championships got into full swing on Wednesday as the action in all main draw pools began unfolding. The first six eighthfinalists in the men’s competition are already known. Another three are sure to progress beyond the pool stage, at least into the sixteenthfinals. In addition to the continental medals, tickets to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games for the two gold medalists’ countries are also at stake at the prestigious event in Shangluo, China.

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The first two legs in the men’s pools unfolded on Wednesday and nine duos managed to collect two wins each, enough to secure passage to the knockout stages. In three of the pools, two teams managed to stay undefeated, which automatically means a top-two finish for each of them in the respective pool and a direct ticket to the second elimination round – the eighthfinals.

So, Australia’s Mark Nicolaidis & Izac Carracher and Japan’s Kai Kurokawa & Ryuichi Adachi from Pool C, Indonesia’s Bintang Akbar & Sofyan Rachman Efendi and Japan’s Takumi Takahashi & Jumpei Ikeda from Pool E, and China’s Wang Yanwei & Du Hongjun and Thailand’s Pithak Tipjan & Wachirawit Muadpha from Pool F are already safe for their spots among the last 16 of the tournament after scoring two straight-set victories on the first competition day.

The day’s men’s program offered only two three-set games and both of them featured New Zealand’s Sam O'Dea & Ben O'Dea in Pool B. First, they celebrated a nail-biting 2-1 (17-21, 21-14, 17-15) comeback win over Thailand’s Netitorn Muneekul & Poravid Taovato after 56 minutes of play. Then, they faced second-seeded Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medalists Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan and attempted to do the same, but the Qatari stars held up for a 2-1 (21-14, 19-21, 15-13) victory in a game that lasted 50 minutes. It was their second win in the pool, which guarantees them a top-three finish and a berth in the knockouts.

Top-seeded Chinese home favorites Wu Jiaxin & Zhou Chaowei in Pool A and fourth-seeded Australians Thomas Hodges & Ben Hood also delivered two victories each to secure passage beyond the pool stage.

One leg of pool action in the women’s main draw was played on Wednesday. In most matches, the favorites celebrated two-set victories.

The only upset occurred in a Pool E match between Cherry Ann Rondina & Bernadeth Pons of the Philippines and Patcharaporn Seehawong & Salinda Mungkhon of Thailand. The 17^th-seeded Thai pair persevered through a 49-minute battle to emerge with a 2-1 (21-13, 19-21, 15-13) victory over the eighth-seeded Filipino opponents.

In the only other tie-breaker resolution of the first competition day, Ngok Ling Tsang & Man Ching Wong of Hong Kong achieved a 2-1 (21-13, 19-21, 15-8) victory over Lee Xin En Valerie & Ang Hui Ying of Singapore in a Pool A encounter.

Thursday’s competition day starts at 09:00 local time (01:00 UTC) with the second leg of women’s pool play. By the end of the day, the pool stage will be completed and all 18 teams per gender advancing to the knockouts will be known.

2026 AVC Beach Volleyball Asian Championships: schedule and results

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