Futures - Tahiti, PYF - 2023

Tahiti Futures elimination rounds live on YouTube

Twelve men’s teams still in contention in French Polynesia

Published 05:55, 07 Apr 2023

Tahiti Futures (Photo: Jean-Marc Monnier, ladepeche.pf)

The season’s third Futures event on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour taking place in Tahiti is about to enter its decisive stages. 12 men’s teams survived beyond the qualifiers and the pool stage to engage in direct knockout battles on the way to Saturday’s medal matches at the first-ever world-level tournament held in French Polynesia.

Watch all of Friday’s and Saturday’s action in Tahiti live on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel

Eight of the remaining teams will participate in the first knockout round on Friday afternoon, starting at 13:00 local time (23:00 UTC). Another four are awaiting the winners for the quarterfinal matches on Friday evening, starting at 18:00 local (04:00 UTC on Saturday) to set up the semifinal line-ups for Saturday’s showdown.

Germany’s Malte Hoppner & Tilo Rietschel claimed a hard-fought 2-1 (25-23, 19-21, 15-12) win over Canada’s Eric Girard & Tynan Gannett in Tuesday’s only qualification match. The Germans also survived the pool stage after another three-set win, 2-1 (20-22, 21-12, 15-8), over Coolangatta Futures’ surprise package, USA’s Charles Siragusa & Jordan Hoppe, in the third place match of Pool A. Top-seeded New Zealanders Bradley Fuller & Alani Nicklin made it straight to the quarterfinals from that pool after a 2-0 (21-12, 21-15) sweep of Hoppner & Rietschel in their first game and a 2-0 (21-17, 21-12) shutout of USA’s Adam Roberts & Martin Lorenz for the first place in the final pool standings.

Local Tahitian players Christophe Ariitai, Hevanoa Vaki, Raihau Mare and Jeremie Paraue competing in their first Beach Pro Tour event (photos: Jean-Marc Monnier, ladepeche.pf)

Second-seeded Simon Kulzer & Bennet Poniewaz also lived up to their status to top Pool B, mastering two straight-set victories, 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) over Tahitian locals Christophe Ariitai & Hevanoa Vaki, representing France, and 2-0 (21-11, 21-19) over Jake Urrutia & Ian Satterfield of the United States. The third place in the pool and, hence, a spot in the direct elimination rounds went to Hungary’s Csanad Petik & Domonkos Doczi.

Kensuke Shoji & Jumpei Ikeda of Japan, seeded third in the main draw bracket, did not lose a set in Pool C either. They started off with a 2-0 (21-9, 21-15) sweep of New Zealand’s Joshua Tiplady & Giles Black and followed up with a tight 2-0 (24-22, 21-17) victory over Norway’s Havard Solheim & Stian Opsahl. Another Japanese pair, Shiro Furuta & Hiroki Dylan Kurokawa, stayed in contention by winning the pool’s losers’ match in a three-set comeback.

Fifth-seeded Tiziano Andreatta & Andrea Abbiati of Italy took advantage of fourth-seeded Tahitians Raihau Mare & Jeremie Paraue’s first-round 2-0 (22-20, 21-12) loss at the hands of USA’s Benjamin Vaught & Mark Bucknam, seeded 13th, to top Pool D by claiming a 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) shutout of the Americans in the pool final. The French Polynesian pair also advanced after a forfeit win in the third-place match.

Tahiti Futures: schedule and results