FIVB Phuket Open starts today – Beach Volleyball

PHUKET: World No 1 Taiana Lima and Talita Da Rocha Antunes of Brazil head the seedings of the Phuket Thailand Open, powered by PTT, which starts at Karon Beach today.

Seeded second in the six-day competition are compatriots Maria Clara Salgado Rufino and Carolina Solberg Salgado, ranked No 3 in the world. Other seeds include the German pair of Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst, the USA teams of April Ross and Jennifer Fopma, Jennifer Kessy and Brooke Sweat, the Spanish duo of Lilliana Fernandez Steiner and Elsa McMillan Baquerizo and a third Brazilian pairing of Agatha Bednarczuk and Maria Antonelli.

Overall 84 teams representing 32 countries will compete in the FIVB Phuket Thailand Open tournament with the grand finale on Sunday. The total value of prizes exceeds US$100,000 with US$17,000 for the winning team, US$12.000 for the runner up and US$9,200 for the winners of the bronze medal.

Thailand are fielding the greatest number of teams, with three in the main draw and two in qualifying. Leading the home challenge are Thai No 1 duo Varapatsorn Radarong and Tanarattha Udomchavee, currently ranked No 40 in the world. They will be looking to improve on their best showing, a fifth place in Anapa, Russia. The other two Thai teams in the main draw are Rumpaipruet Numwong and Khanittha Hongpak, ranked world No 67, and wild-cards Usa Tenpaksee and Yupa Phokrongploy.

The Thai teams in qualifiers today are Tippawan Srinuch and Saowaros Tangkaeo, and Ariya Laosaengsa and Kijja Khantarak.

The tournament is divided into 3 phases beginning with the qualification tournament held on October 29 from 9:00am, followed by Main Draw pool play staring on October 30 with 2 days of pool play before changing to Main Draw single elimination where eight trams will compete for the championship, through quarter finals, semi finals and the grand finale.

Qualifiers for the final eight places in the main draw will be held from 9am today, with the main draw starting tomorrow with two days of pool play, before changing to a single elimination format for the latter stages of the event.

Admission to the tournament is free and a large sponsor zone onsite has fun-packed activities from PTT, Mazda, Chang and other sponsors to enhance spectators’ experience.

Other events at the tournament are the PTT Schools Cup and the PTT beach volleyball clinic, held on finals weekend.

SMM TV will live broadcast all the Thai teams’ matches, while the semi-finals on November 2 and the finals on November 3 will be televised in Thailand on NBT and T-Sports.

The Phuket Thailand Open powered by PTT is supported by the Sports Authority of Thailand, PTT Public Company Limited, Thai Beverage Marketing Co Ltd, Mazda, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phuket Gazette, TOT Public Company Limited, Grand Sport, Kata Groups of Hotels, Woraburi Phuket, Tez Tour, 91.5 FM, The View Phuket, O’Natural, Haadthip and T.P Link Co., Ltd,

For more information on the tournament, please contact Pentangle Promotions Co., Ltd at Tel: 02-3113414/5 or click here.

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