Beach Pro Tour

Legendary Xue wins first Beach Pro Tour gold with new partner Zeng

Qualifiers Shaw & Toni of USA and Placette & Richard of France complete the Haikou Challenge podium

Published 07:24, 17 Nov 2024

Xue Chen & Zeng Jinjin rejoice at the end of the Haikou Challenge final

Upon their Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour debut as a team, China’s Xue Chen & Zeng Jinjin won their first Tour gold together. 35-year-old Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze medallist and four-time Olympian Xue and her new 23-year-old partner Zeng topped the podium at the Haikou Challenge at home, in China, on Sunday. Each of the two players had three previous gold medals on the Beach Pro Tour, but while for Zeng they all came at the Futures level, Xue and her previous partner Xia Xinyi celebrated victories at Challenge tournaments in Itapema, Saquarema and Stare Jablonki.

Watch the Haikou Challenge on VBTV.

USA’s Molly Shaw & Toni Rodriguez made their way from the Haikou qualifications all the way to the final showdown and picked up silver. It was their first appearance on the Tour as a team. They had one Challenge-level silver each with different partners, as well as some podiums at Futures events.

France’s Paris 2024 participants Lezana Placette & Alexia Richard, who also emerged from the Haikou qualification grind, completed the podium with bronze. It was their first-ever medal on the Beach Pro Tour.

The 2024 Haikou Challenge women's podium

The gold medal match was a straight-set affair, dominated by the home team. Second-seeded Xue & Zeng delighted the home crowd with a convincing 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) victory. Xue led the way with 19 points, including a monster block for the match winner. She scored three aces and two stuffs, while Zeng added another 12 points, all in attack. Toni led the American duo with 13 points.

Shaw/Toni vs. Xue/J. J. Zeng - Gold Match Highlights | Haikou 2024 #BeachProTour

In the bronze medal match before that, 21^st-seeded Placette & Richard mounted a furious comeback from a set down against 16^th-seeded Wang Xinxin & Dong Jie of China to claim a 2-1 (17-21, 21-19, 15-11) victory. The slightly better overall performance in attack gave the French Olympians the needed edge to make the podium. Richard put away four blocks, three aces and 12 spike kills to lead her team with 19 points. Placette added another 18, including one ace. With five kill blocks and three aces towards a 20-point tally, Wang was the best scorer of the match.

Placette/Richard vs. Wang X. X./J. Dong - Bronze Match Highlights | Haikou 2024 #BeachProTour

The all-Chinese semifinal earlier on Sunday produced a three-set rollercoaster battle, in which Xue & Zeng emerged victorious, celebrating a 2-1 (21-13, 16-21, 15-12) win at the end. Zeng was the best scorer of the match with 27 points to her name, including three aces. Xue led the pair’s blocking effort with four stuffs.

Toni’s seven kill blocks and five aces made the big difference in the second semifinal, in which the American duo hammered out an emphatic 2-0 (21-13, 21-18) shutout of Placette & Richard. Toni finished with a match-high 20 points towards the victory.