As many as five of the six podium spots (pictured in the main photo; source: AVC – Asian Volleyball Confederation) at last week’s opening event on the 2026 AVC Asian Beach Volleyball Tour were claimed by teams benefitting from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Asami Shiba & Reika Murakami of Japan, Jasmine Rayner & Stefanie Fejes of Australia and Shaunna Polley & Olivia MacDonald of New Zealand occupied the women’s podium in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, while Ben Hood & Thomas Hodges outplayed Joshua Howat & Luke Ryan in the all-Australian men’s final. The sixth medal went to the home duo of Bintang Akbar & Sofyan Rachman Efendi.
Volleyball Australia’s beach volleyball department has so far been granted a total of USD 546,000 worth of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national teams on the sand. Michael Suter, Max Roiuk and Joey Yigit are in charge of the men’s pairs, while Brad Tutton coaches the women’s duos. The Japan Volleyball Association’s beach volleyball department has received coach support in USD 84,000 of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment funding. Their national team duos have been working with American coach Steve Anderson. New Zealand’s beach volleyball department has been allocated a total of USD 462,000 of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support, in addition to USD 34,000 worth of beach volleyball equipment and USD 6,000 in a beach volleyball referee development knowledge transfer program. The country’s national teams are training under the guidance of coach Jason Lochhead.
Japan’s Asami Shiba & Reika Murakami, seeded third in the women’s main draw in Raja Ampat, won their only pool match in straight sets, but then persevered through four consecutive tie-breaker matches in the knockout rounds to claim the first AVC continental gold of the year. In the semifinals, Shiba & Reika celebrated a 2-1 (21-17, 17-21, 15-9) win over New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley & Olivia MacDonald, and in the gold medal showdown, they battled it out for a 2-1 (21-18, 19-21, 15-13) victory over Australia’s Jasmine Rayner & Stefanie Fejes.
To get to the final, fifth-seeded Rayner & Fejes won five consecutive matches in Indonesia. Their run was crowned with a 2-1 (21-8, 19-21, 15-12) semifinal victory over another Japanese pair, fourth-seeded Ren Matsumoto & Non Matsumoto.
Second-seeded Polley & MacDonald recovered from their only loss in the tournament with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) win over Ren & Non in the bronze medal playoff.
In the men’s tournament, third-seeded Ben Hood & Thomas Hodges of Australia made e perfect run of four straight-set wins in a row on the way to the final. In the semis, they mastered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) victory over fifth-seeded Dunwinit Kaewsai & Banlue Nakprakhong of Thailand. Hood & Hodges dropped their only set of the tournament in the final showdown against fellow Australians Joshua Howat & Luke Ryan, whom they beat by 2-1 (21-16, 19-21, 15-12) to triumph with the continental gold.
Fourth-seeded Howat & Ryan also reached the final undefeated. In their semifinal against top-seeded home favorites Bintang Akbar & Sofyan Rachman Efendi, the Aussies came back from a set down to achieve a 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 15-12) turnaround.
These were the first and only sets lost by the Indonesian duo at the event. They bounced back with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-10) sweep of the third-place game against Dunwinit & Banlue to delight the home fans with bronze.
20 women’s teams and 19 men’s teams from nine different federations took part in the AVC Tour stop in Indonesia. The next event on the continental tour is taking place from April 12 to 15 in Songkhla, Thailand.
