Fejes-Milutinovic pair claims beach volley crown

MANILA, Philippines — Stefanie Fejes and Jana Milutinovic came up with a solid performance that started under the sun and concluded under the floodlights for a 21-19, 25-23 victory over fellow Australians Jasmine Fleming and Georgia Johnson in women’s final in the Smart Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Beach Tour Nuvali Open yesterday.

With daylight fading as both teams battled in a tight second set, the lights at the world-class Nuvali Sand Courts by Ayala Land in the City of Santa Rosa were turned on and the Fejes-Milutinovic duo shone and wrapped up the title in 52 minutes.

“We knew them very well so we knew it was going to be a good matchup,” Fejes said. “We fought till the end and we played our game.”

Iran’s Abbas Pourasgari and Alireza Aghajanighasab got a big boost in their bid for a spot in the Paris Olympics by turning back Thailand’s Tipjan Pithak and Taovato Poravid, 21-17-21-15, in the men’s gold medal match of the tournament backed by Foton, Akari, Mikasa, Senoh, Seda, Asics, Cignal, One Sports, One Sports+ and Pilipinas Live.

Aghajanighasab was very pleased that their preparations paid off, noting that they have a very good support team for the Asian competition and their quest for an Olympic berth.

“I’m very happy, this is a big win,” Aghajanighasab said.