Qidong, China, July 5, 2019 – Chiyo Suzuki and Yurika Sakaguchi were one of four Japanese teams to reach the 2-Star Qidong Open main draw after two wins from two on Friday.
The tournament runs from July 4-7 and is one of nine FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events in China, with $50,000 on offer to the leading teams.
Chiyo and Sakaguchi began by defeating Slovakia’s Tjasa Kotnik and Tjasa Jancar 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) and then followed up with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) victory over the Czech Republic’s Michaela Kubickova and Michala Kvapilová.
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Compatriots Azusa Futami and Akiko Hasegawa also qualified for the elimination rounds with a pair of wins, but Ayami Kusano and Nishibori Takemi, and Suzuka Hashimoto and Sayaka Mizoe qualified in second place from their pools after a win and a loss.
Local favourites and number one seed Jingzhe Wang and Shuhui Wen maintained their quest for a third World Tour gold in three tournaments when they topped their pool.
The Chinese duo opened with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-9) over fellow their fellow Chinese Jing Wang and Binhong Qu and added a second victory with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-14) defeat of Norway’s Ane Hjortland and Victoria Kjolberg.
