
Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships updates
Day 4 – Friday 26 November
Chris McHugh and Paul Burnett have caused an upset on the penultimate day of competition at the Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships in Thailand.
The Aussie pair were formidable Olympic bronze medalists Qatar in the semi finals, a straight sets win 2:0 (21-16, 21-19) putting McHugh and Burnett through to the gold medal match.
The pair put their competitors on notice, and showed that their new team is not to be underestimated.
“Paul and I played really well today against Qatar who have been the form team of this year’s tour and Olympic bronze medalists,” McHugh said.
“We stuck to our game style and to Paul’s credit he came. out and played impressively under a massive amount of pressure.
“We applied a lot of pressure to Qatar’s side out game and were rewarded at times for this aggression.
“We are both excited to progress to the final of this years Asian Championships – it will be a great test for us to back up the good performance today with another one tomorrow,” he said.
McHugh and Burnett will meet 10th seeds Iran in the gold medal match at 6pm AEDT on Saturday 27 November.
In the women’s competition, Phoebe Bell and Georgia Johnson met fourth seeds Thailand in the semi finals, who proved too strong for the Aussie pairing.
Despite defeat, Bell’s remains optimistic about bringing home a medal.
“Myself and Georgia are really enjoying the challenge of competition after coming off not international competition in some time,” Bell said.
“We have really embraced the added challenge of being a new team and have produced some really good performances here in Thailand.
“We are very much looking forward to tomorrow’s bronze medal game – we will reset tonight and come out tomorrow firing,” she said.
Carracher/Takken and Fleming/Fejes were knocked out in the quarter finals stages, both finishing in fifth place overall.
Guehrer/Nicolaidis and Stevens/Milutinovic both finished 9th overall.
DAY 4 RESULTS – Quarter Finals
Carracher/Takken (AUS) def by Cherif/Ahmed (QAT) | 0:2 (14-21, 12-21)
McHugh/Burnett (AUS) d S.Shekar/Aro (IRN) | 2:0 (23-21, 21-12)
Bell/Johnson (AUS) d Hasegawa/Sakaguchi (JPN) | 2:0 (21-19, 21-19)
Fleming/Fejes (AUS) def by Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn (THA) | 0:2 (12-21, 15-21)
Semi Finals
McHugh/Burnett (AUS) d Cherif/Ahmed (QAT) | 2:0 (21-16, 21-19)
Bell/Johnson (AUS) def by Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn (THA) | 0:2 (16-21, 17-21)
DAY 5 DRAW – Medal Matches
4pm AEDT – Bell/Johnson (AUS) v Polley/Zeimann (NZL)
6pm AEDT – McHugh/Burnett (AUS) v Salemi B/Abolhassan (IRN)

Day 3 – Thursday 25 November
Four Aussie teams have made their way through to the quarterfinals after a jam packed day three of competition at the Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships in Thailand.
The Aussies were out in force on the final day of pool play, before an afternoon of matches in the Round of 16, with the Aussies on the court for 10 games.
McHugh/Burnett continued their dominant performance, with a convincing win of Japanese pairing of Ikeda/Shiratori seeing them through to the quarterfinals stages, as well as fellow Aussie men’s team Carracher/Takken.
In the women’s competition, both Bell/Johnson and Fejes/Fleming are through to the quarterfinals after putting on an outstanding display of beach volleyball on day three.
DAY 3 RESULTS
Pool – Bell/Johnson (AUS) def by Radarong/Udomchavee (THA) | 1:2 (6-21, 21-12, 12-15)
Pool – Fleming/Fejes (AUS) d Ivanchenko/Kabulbekova (KAZ) | 2:0 (21-17, 21-15)
Pool – Stevens/Milutinovic (AUS) def by Rondina/Pons (PHI) | 0:2 (15-21, 22-24)
Pool – Carracher/Takken (AUS) def by D.Kitti/T.Phanupong (THA) | 1:2 (21-14, 15-21, 11-15)
Rnd of 16 – Bell/Johnson (AUS) d Ivanchenko/Kabulbekova (KAZ) | 2:0 (21-2, 21-8)
Rnd of 16 – Fleming/Fejes (AUS) d Rodriguex/Esplapor (PHI) | 2:0 (21-18, 21-14)
Rnd of 16 – Stevens/Milutinovic (AUS) def by Ishii/Mizoe (JPN) | 0:2 (13-21, 11-21)
Rnd of 16 – McHugh/Burnett (AUS) d Ikeda/Shiratori (JPN) | 2:0 (21-18, 21-12)
Rnd of 16 – Guehrer/Nicolaidis (AUS) def by S.Shekar/Aro (IRN) | 1:2 (21-23, 21-18, 10-15)
Rnd of 16 – Carracher/Takken (AUS) d A.Mirzaali/A.Aghajani (IRN) | 2:0 (23-21, 21-15)
DAY 4 DRAW – Quarter Finals
12pm AEDT* – Carracher/Takken (AUS) v Cherif/Ahmed (QAT)
12pm AEDT – McHugh/Burnett (AUS) v S.Shekar/Aro (IRN)
12.50pm AEDT – Bell/Johnson (AUS) v Hasegawa/Sakaguchi (JPN)
12.50pm AEDT – Fleming/Fejes (AUS) v Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn (THA)
*all games on Court 2 will be livestreamed via the Asian Volleyball Confederation YouTube – click here

Day 2 – Wednesday 24 November
The Aussies were dominant on day two of the Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships, highlighted by commanding performances by Chris McHugh/Paul Burnett and Max Guehrer/Mark Nicolaidis seeing them top their pool and through to the Round of 16.
The Championships is Guehrer’s first international competition since the Olympic qualifiers in June, also in Thailand.
“It’s amazing to be back competing internationally, and it feels weird that this is only the second international tournament I’ve played in in the last two years,” Guehrer said.
“The event here is amazing though, and the Asian Volleyball Confederation and host city Phuket have done an incredible job setting this all up and getting us all here safely.
“The courts are right on the beach at the front of the resort, it’s so picturesque and a great backdrop to play volleyball in front of,” he said.
Third men’s pair of Izac Carracher/James Takken had a rest day, and will back on the court on Thursday.
On the women’s side of the competition, new pairing of Phoebe Bell/Georgia Johnson continued their winning streak, defeating both Rachenko/Ukolova of Kazakhstan and Deepika/Hashini of Sri Lanka in straight sets.
Young gun Jasmine Fleming/Stefie Fejes got day two underway with a win against home country Thailand, before unfortunately going down to top seeds Ishii/Mizoe of Japan.
Alisha Stevens/Jana Milutinovic also had a rest day on Wednesday, and will play their final pool game on Thursday.
DAY 2 RESULTS
Bell/Johnson (AUS) d Rachenko/Ukolova (KAZ) | 2:0 (21-9, 21-11)
Fleming/Fejes (AUS) d Numwong/Charanrutwadee (THA) | 2:1 (17-21, 23-21, 15-7)
McHugh/Burnett (AUS) d Tay Z.H.K/Goh T.K.M (SGP) | 2:0 (21-17, 21-18)
Guehrer/Nicolaidis (AUS) d Salemi B./Abolhassan (IRN) 2:1 (21-19, 17-21, 15-9)
Bell/Johnson (AUS) d Deepika/Hashini (SRI) | 2:0 (21-15, 21-5)
Fleming/Fejes (AUS) def by Ishii/Mizoe (JPN) | 0:2 (16-21, 12-21)
For full results – click here
DAY 3 DRAW
12pm AEDT – Bell/Johnson (AUS) v Radarong/Udomchavee (THA)
12pm AEDT – Fleming/Fejes (AUS) v Ivanchenko/Kabulbekova (KAZ)
12.50pm AEDT – Stevens/Milutinovic (AUS) v Rondina/Pons (PHI)
2.30pm AEDT – Carracher/Takken (AUS) v D.Kitti/T.Phanupong (THA)
For full schedules – click here

Day 1 – Tuesday 23 November
The Aussies were out in force on day one of the Asian Senior Beach Volleyball Championships, with all six teams hitting the sands in Phuket, Thailand.
Izac Carracher and James Takken put on a great display of beach volleyball in their first game of the championships, managing to come back from a first set loss to defeat Takahashi and Murakami of Japan in three sets.
Carracher said that he was enjoying being back at an international competition, and relishing the opportunity to play alongside Takken again.
“James and I won a three set battle over fifth seed Japan – it was a great opportunity to get the first game jitters out,” Carracher said.
“It was awesome to get into the swing of things with international competitions again, it’s been a long time coming and we’re stoked to have this opportunity.
“We’ve got the day off tomorrow, so we’ll be resting up for our final pool match on Thursday against Thailand. But we’ll be out in force to support all the other Australian teams tomorrow,” he said.
Young gun Jasmine Fleming, and partner Stefie Fejes were also able to record an impressive win on day one.
“The first day of competition here in Phuket was awesome! Stefie and I played a strong game and came up with our first win at a Senior Asian Championships,” Fleming said.
“It’s amazing to be back competing internationally, especially being able to compete against Olympians.
“The venue is incredible, it’s probably the coolest place I’ve ever competed in, and we are playing right on the beach.
“Tomorrow Stefie and I have got a game against Thailand and Japan, which we’re really looking forward to,” she said.
DAY 1 RESULTS
Bell/Johnson (AUS) d Rodriguez/Eslapor (PHI) | 2:1 (20-22, 21-10, 15-11)
Stevens/Milutinovic (AUS) def by Shiba/Take (JPN) | 0:2 (19-21, 17-21)
McHugh/Burnett (AUS) d Garcia/Arbasto (PHI) | 2:0 (21-14, 21-13)
Carracher/Takken (AUS) d Takahashi/Murakami (JPN) | 2:1 (17-21, 21-19, 15-13)
Guehrer/Nicolaidis (AUS) d Ashen/Malintha Yapa (SRI) | 2:1 (20-22, 21-18, 15-10
Fleming/Fejes (AUS) d Tan A.K.Y./Soh C.H.C (SIN) | 2:0 (21-8, 21-14)
Stevens/Milutinovic (AUS) def by Naraphornrapat/Worapeerachayakorn (THA) | 0:2 (18-21, 11-21)
For full results – click here
DAY 2 DRAW
12pm AEDT* – Bell/Johnson (AUS) v Rachenko/Ukolova (KAZ)
12pm AEDT – Fleming/Fejes (AUS) v Numwong/Charanrutwadee (THA)
6pm AEDT – McHugh/Burnett (AUS) v Tay Z.H.K/Goh T.K.M (SGP)
7pm AEDT – Guehrer/Nicolaidis (AUS) v Salemi B./Abolhassan (IRN)
8pm AEDT – Bell/Johnson (AUS) Deepika/Hashini (SRI)
8pm AEDT* – Fleming/Fejes (AUS) v Ishii/Mizoe (JPN)
*all games on Court 2 will be livestreamed via the Asian Volleyball Confederation website – click here