--- title: "Volleyball Empowerment-backed women’s pairs chase AVC Asia Beach Volleyball Championship title in Shangluo, China; Olympic berth at stake for Los Angeles 2028" sdDatePublished: "2026-09-02T10:15:00Z" source: "https://www.fivb.com/volleyball-empowerment-pairs-chase-womens-title-in-avc-beach-volleyball-championship/" topics: - name: "beach volleyball" identifier: "medtop:20001090" - name: "Olympic Games" identifier: "medtop:20001177" - name: "sport organisation" identifier: "medtop:20001125" locations: - "Shangluo" - "Malaysia" - "Uzbekistan" - "Vanuatu" - "China" - "Thailand" - "Japan" - "Kazakhstan" - "Mongolia" - "Singapore" - "Kyrgyzstan" - "New Zealand" - "Australia" --- Volleyball Empowerment-backed women’s pairs chase AVC Asia Beach Volleyball Championship title in Shangluo, China; Olympic berth at stake for Los Angeles 2028 Volleyball Empowerment pairs chase women’s title in AVC Beach Volleyball Championship – FIVB The 2026 AVC Asia Beach Volleyball Championship will take place in Shangluo, China from 2 to 6 September. 17 out of the 24 participating women’s teams have received support from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment Programme. Volleyball Empowerment-supported pairs from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, New Zealand, The Philippines, Singapore, Uzbekistan and Vanuatu will line up in Shangluo where at stake will be the continental title and a slot to the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028. Of the 17 Volleyball Empowerment duos, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, The Philippines and Uzbekistan all have two pairs while Singapore, Vanuatu and Kyrgyzstan will be represented by one duo each. Champion alongside Wang Jingzhe in the previous edition held in Santa Rosa, The Philippines in 2024, Xia Xinyi will look to defend her title with her new partner Xu Yan. A successful title defence on home sand in Shangluo will yield a remarkable fifth Asian title for Xinyi. Brazilian expert Adriana Bento Buczmiejuk leads China’s women’s team as part of Coach Support projects totaling USD 46,800. Yan X. & XY Xia are the top seeds and are in Pool A alongside Mongolia’s Anudari Erdenesukh & Khatanzaya Purevjargal and Volleyball Empowerment-backed Xin En Valerie Lee & Hui Ying Ang of Singapore and Ngok Ling Tsang & Man Ching Wong of Hong Kong. Japanese coach Masato Itabashi manages Singapore’s women’s team in a Coach Support project worth USD 64,750 while Brazilian coach Augusto Sabbatini is in charge of Hong Kong’s junior and senior women’s beach volleyball teams as part of Coach Support projects worth USD 21,000. China’s medal hunt will be supported by the second pair of Shuting Cao & Jie Dong who are seeded seventh and are in Pool F with Kazakhstan’s Laura Kabulbekova & Merey Kozhakhmet, Malaysia’s Goh Yu Heng & Goh Rachael, Yu Jie and the empowered Ren Matsumoto & Non Matsumoto of Japan. American expert Steve Anderson manages Japan’s women’s beach volleyball programme as part of Coach Support projects totaling USD 63,000. Third seeds Asami Shiba & Reika Murakami of Japan are in Pool C with the Empowerment-backed Khylem Harl Progella & Sofiah Shanine Pagara of The Philippines and Uzbekistan’s Shagraeva Zamira & Odina Uralova as well as Kazakhstan’s Kristina Karimova & Yekaterina Ryukhova. Shailen Ramdoo leads Uzbekistan’s women’s team in a Coach Support project worth USD 21,000 while Brazilian João Luciano Simão Barbosa coaches The Philippines’ women’s team as part of Coach Support projects totaling USD 165,875. Second seeds Stefanie Fejes & Taliqua Clancy will lead Australia’s medal charge from Pool B. It will be an intriguing personal mission for Clancy who will be eyeing a sixth Asian title in Shangluo. FIVB has invested a total of USD 273,000 in the Coach Support projects in Australia with Brad Tutton taking charge of the women’s national team. Fejes & Clancy are in Pool B with Mile Rose Green & Grace Tiplady of New Zealand, Wing Tung To & Wing Man To of Hong Kong and Mongolia’s Uuganchimeg Battur & Oyuntuya Munkhbayar. FIVB has invested a total of USD 231,000 in New Zealand’s women’s team currently led by Jason Lochhead and Craig Seuseu. Jasmine Fleming & Elizabeth Alchin will be the second Australian pair in Shangluo. They are in Pool E with Cherry Ann Rondina & Bernadeth Pons of The Philippines, Patcharaporn Seehavong & Salinda Mungkhon of Thailand and Uzbekistan’s Guzaloy Mamatsodikova & Malikakhon Tursunpulatova. Previously, FIVB had invested USD 126,000 in Thailand’s men’s national team under the Volleyball Empowerment Programme. Shaunna Polley & Olivia MacDonald will carry New Zealand’s medal hopes in Shangluo. Seeded fourth, Polley & MacDonald are in Pool D with the empowered Sherrysyn Toko & Miller Pata of Vanuatu, Kyrgyzstan’s Roza Rasulbek Kyzy & Ogulai Kudaikulova and Thailand’s Taravadee Naraphornrapat & Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee. Miller Pata is currently in charge of Vanuatu’s women’s team as part of Coach Support projects totaling USD 430,500. Meanwhile, Yevgen Nikolayev has managed Kyrgyzstan’s women’s team in a Coach Support project worth USD 21,000. The 24 participating men’s teams will be split into 6 single round-robin pools of four for the first stage of the competition. The six pool winners, the six pool runners-up and the two best ranked third-placed teams will advance directly to the eighthfinals. The remaining four third-placed teams will move on to a sixteenthfinal round, the so-called “lucky loser” playoffs, set to get the single-elimination-format stage underway. After the eighthfinal playoffs, quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will eventually lead to the two medal matches. 16 Volleyball Empowerment men duos vie for Asian beach volleyball title in Shangluo Volleyball Empowerment pairs chase women’s title in AVC Beach Volleyball Championship From ambition to the podium: Gibraltar celebrates historic breakthrough through Volleyball Empowerment Canada and Mexico make NORCECA Men’s Final Six podium with Empowerment Van Vegten & De Groot from Empowerment-funded Netherlands earn Modena Futures silver Teams from Empowerment-funded Czechia and Latvia snatch all six Brno Futures medals Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Switzerland celebrate their national champions; Turkiye holds a tour stop Vanuatu women’s beach volleyball team embraces world-class training facilities in Bangkok Empowerment-supported Mol & Sorum finish season with Montreal Elite gold