Australian junior women look for back-to-back medals in Thailand
Australian juniors Alisha Stevens and Stefanie Fejes were over the moon when they won gold at the U19 Asian Beach Volleyball Championships in Thailand last week.
Today, they’ll have the chance to claim back-to-back titles when they face off against Thailand 1 for the gold medal in the U21 Asian Beach Volleyball Championships.
It’s a case of déjà vu for the pair, defeating fellow Aussies Jasmine Fleming and Jesse Mann in the semi finals of both tournaments to make the gold medal match.
Having lost yesterday’s match up, Fleming and Mann will face Thailand 2 in the bronze medal match.
Coach Anne Meijnderts said she is incredibly proud of both teams for making the finals again.
“It is exciting to have both our women’s teams competing for the gold and bronze once again,” Meijnderts said.
“Even though the match ups might be the same as last week, the tournament couldn’t have been more different.
“Jasmine and Jesse have played an outstanding tournament so far, with the highlight of becoming pool winners by beating last week’s silver medallists Thailand 1.
“Meanwhile Alisha and Stefanie have had a taste of what it’s like to play with a target on their backs and have had to stick to their own game under pressure.
“I can’t wait to see today’s performance from both teams and hopefully we can bring another trophy back to Australia,” she said.
Stevens and Fejes are just relishing the experience of international beach volleyball and are looking forward to getting out on the court again.
“Competing here has been such an incredible and surreal experience. I am so proud of our team and what we have achieved so far. I’m so excited and can’t wait to play and put everything out on the court today,” Fejes said.
“We’ve worked super hard to get into this position again, facing off to another really good team. We are feeling pumper and want to leave everything out on the court,” Stevens said.
Jasmine Fleming and Jesse Mann will face Thailand 2 at 12.30pm AEST in the bronze medal match.
The gold medal will be decided between Alisha Stevens/Stefanie Fejes and Thailand 1 at 2pm AEST.
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