New Zealand Secures Bronze at Asian U21 Beach Volleyball Championships

New Zealand`s Kiana Stevenson and Tineke Hinton, receiving support from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program, successfully claimed the women`s bronze medal at the Asian U21 Beach Volleyball Championships held in Roi Et. They finished on the podium behind the new continental champions, Jiang Kaiye and Zhou Mingli of China, and the runners-up, Simarongnam Samitta and Sogalee Veragkhana of Thailand.

The New Zealand beach volleyball program benefits significantly from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, having been allocated a total of USD 462,000 in coach support, in addition to USD 34,000 worth of beach volleyball equipment. The country`s national teams currently train under the guidance of coaches Mike Watson, Craig Seuseu, and Brad Taka.

Seeded fifth in the women`s draw, Kiana Stevenson and Tineke Hinton advanced to the semifinals on a four-game winning streak. Their progress was halted by a close 2-0 defeat (22-20, 21-19) against the top-seeded Thai pair, Simarongnam Samitta and Sogalee Veragkhana. Moving to the third-place playoff, the New Zealanders delivered a 2-0 upset victory (21-19, 21-18) over the third-seeded Japanese duo, Mei Mori and Noa Utsugi, to secure their bronze medal.

In the women`s gold medal match, the second-seeded Chinese pair, Jiang Kaiye and Zhou Mingli, triumphed over Thailand`s Simarongnam Samitta and Sogalee Veragkhana with a dominant 2-0 victory (21-17, 21-15). The Chinese team completed the tournament undefeated without dropping a single set across six matches.

In the men`s competition, Klim Ryukhov and Vladislav Mastikhin of Kazakhstan, seeded seventh, recovered from an initial loss to embark on a six-match winning streak that led them to the gold medal. Their path included a dramatic 2-1 comeback win (18-21, 21-11, 16-14) in the semifinals against the top-seeded home favorites, Wichaya Wisetkan and Paphawin Manyahong of Thailand. In the championship final, the Kazakh duo upset the third-seeded Chinese pair, Liu Yuan and Mao Yuan, in straight sets, 2-0 (21-19, 21-16).

Liu Yuan and Mao Yuan of China had secured their spot in the final by defeating the second-seeded Australian pair, Finley Bennett and Benjamin Carroll, 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) in their semifinal match.

Hosts Thailand also earned a place on the men`s podium. Wichaya Wisetkan and Paphawin Manyahong secured the bronze medal by defeating the Australian team, Finley Bennett and Benjamin Carroll, 2-1 (21-17, 16-21, 15-9) in the third-place playoff.

The Asian U21 Beach Volleyball Championships featured participation from 23 women`s duos and 26 men`s duos, representing 16 different national federations.