Tuan Chau HaLong Open One Star
- Tuan Chau Island, Vietnam
- May 9-12, 2018
- Schedule/Results
Japan swept the podium at the Tuan Chau One Star with top seeded Sayaka Mizoe/Suzaka Hashimoto taking the gold, besting second seeded countrywomen Yui Nagata/Minori Kumada for the title, and No. 12 seed Yukako Suzuki/Kaho Sakaguchi bringing home the bronze.
No. 5 seed Sofia Starikov/Noy Chorin of Israel were left off on the outside, finishing fourth after falling to both Nagata/Kumada and Suzuki/Sakaguchi.
The medals were not decided easily, however. Mizoe/Hashimoto played through tiebreaks on Saturday to earn the title, including a comeback effort in the semifinals and one extra-point affair in the final, while Nagata/Kumada edged past Starikov/Chorin in three sets for the bronze.
The gold medal marked the first for Mizoe/Hashimoto and second straight FIVB podium finish, following a silver medal at the Phnom Penh Two Star last weekend in the Philippines.
The silver gave Nagata/Kumada their first ever FIVB medal of any color and marked their best finish since a fifth-place effort in Phnom Penh.
Suzuki/Sakaguchi earned bronze in just their sixth tournament together, besting a pair of fifth-place finishes earlier this year (Satun One Star in April, Shepparton One Star in February).
Semifinals
Yui Nagata/Minori Kumada (Japan) def. Sofia Starikov/Noy Chorin (Israel) 21-13, 21-16
Sayaka Mizoe/Suzuka Hashimoto (Japan) def. Yukako Suzuki Suzuki/Kaho Sakaguchi (Japan) 18-21, 21-15, 15-10
Bronze Medal
Suzuki/Sakaguchi (Japan) def. Starikov/Chorin (Israel) 21-18, 17-21, 15-13
Gold Medal
Mizoe/Hashimoto def. Nagata/Kumada 25-23, 18-21, 15-13
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