Futures - Hangzhou, CHN - 2026

Thai domination at Hangzhou Futures

Pairs from the host nation and Iran complete the podiums in China

Published 02:29, 28 Jun 2026

Thailand’s Taravadee Naraphornrapat & Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee

Thai teams conquered both gold medals, in addition to one bronze at the Hangzhou Futures on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour that came to an end on Sunday in China. Netitorn Muneekul & Poravid Taovato and Wachirawit Muadpha & Pithak Tipjan finished first and third in the men’s tournament with Iran’s Abbas Pourasgari & Alireza Aghajanighasab in between. Taravadee Naraphornrapat & Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee topped the women’s podium, while China’s Jiang Kaiyue & Dong Jie and Yu Tong & Qi Siyu pleased the home fans as first and second runners-up.

Seventh-seeded Netitorn Muneekul & Poravid Taovato cruised through the competition in an emphatic manner, without dropping a single set in five matches played. They reunited on the Beach Pro Tour for the first time since claiming bronze at the 2024 Qingdao Futures, their first medal on the Tour together, and this time signed off with their first gold as a duo. Their merciless run in Hangzhou went through a 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) semifinal upset of second-seeded compatriots Wachirawit Muadpha & Pithak Tipjan and peaked with a tight 2-0 (22-20, 21-19) victory in the gold medal showdown against Iranian qualifiers Abbas Pourasgari & Alireza Aghajanighasab.

It was the second time Wachirawit & Pithak lost to Netitorn & Poravid in the competition, but made sure those were their only setbacks in the tournament. They bounced back with a 2-1 (21-15, 22-24, 15-13) victory over the 15^th-seeded Chinese pairing of Liu Yuan & Mao Yuan in the third-place match to claim the bronze, their second medal out of two appearances on the Tour as a team. The first one was a silver that they earned upon their Tour debut at the Coolangatta Futures.

Pourasgari & Aghajani entered the tournament as the ninth seed in the qualification bracket and continued as the 13^th seed in the 16-team main draw. Their solid six-game winning streak was crowned with a 2-1 (21-13, 20-22, 15-7) semifinal victory over Liu & Mao, which guaranteed them their second podium finish out of three Tour participations as a pair.

Taravadee Naraphornrapat & Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee have been partners since the Beach Pro Tour was launched back in 2022 and finally celebrated their first gold on the Tour, and first podium since their only previous medal, the 2022 Dubai Challenge bronze. The fifth-seeded Thai duo did not suffer any defeats in Hangzhou and topped the podium after a 2-0 (21-13, 21-15) semifinal shutout of Chinese qualifiers Yu Tong & Qi Siyu and a 2-1 (10-21, 21-19, 15-10) comeback against second-seeded Jiang Kaiyue & Dong Jie in the gold medal game.

Jiang & Dong reached the final unbeaten in four matches. They secured their second Beach Pro Tour medal together (after the Haikou Futures gold in March) with a 2-1 (18-21, 21-14, 15-11) turnaround in their semifinal against third-seeded Sakura Ito & Miki Ishii of Japan.

Yu and 17-year-old Qi also picked up their second Beach Pro Tour medal after a nail-biting 2-1 (19-21, 22-20, 16-14) comeback win over the Japanese duo for the bronze, with which they got back at Sakura & Ishii for the loss in pool. The first was the Sanya Futures silver they won in March. In Hangzhou, Yu & Qi started as the top-seeded team in the qualifications and moved on as the sixth-seeded team in the main draw to make it all the way to the podium.