Jinjiang, China, November 1, 2018 - After a week in South America for an event in Brazil, the international beach volleyball circuit returns to Asia for a May 22-26 men's and women's tournament in Jinjiang, the fifth of nine FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour stops in China during the 2018-2019 season.
After hosting FIVB events in Zhongwei, Qinzhou and Yangzhou last September and October, China will stage 2019 World Tour events in Xiamen, Jinjiang, Nantong, Nanjing, Qidong and Zhongwei in April, May, June, July and August.
With the qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in progress, the 4-star Jinjiang Open is one of the top point-producing events on the schedule with the winning teams securing 800 points for finishing atop the podium.
At the 2018 inaugural Jinjiang Open, pairs from Japan and the United States topped the podiums by defeating teams from Chinese Taipei and Germany, respectively.
In the men's finale, Trevor Crabb/John Mayer of United States outlasted Nils Ehlers/Lorenz Schumann of Germany 2-1 (21-13, 18-21, 17-15) in the 49-minute gold medal match. China's Peng Gao/Yang Li denied Germany a second medal by defeating Max Betzien/Jonathan Erdmann 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) in the 34-minute bronze medal match.
Japan captured two of the three Jinjiang 2018 women's medals as Suzuka Hashimoto/Sayaka Mizoe defeated Nai-Han Kou/Pi Hsin Liu of Chinese Taipei 2-1 (21-13, 19-21, 15-5) in the 46-minute women's finale. Reika Murakami/Chiyo Suzuki gathered the second Japanese podium spot with a 2-0 (21-12, 22-20) bronze medal victory in the 34-minute over Aurora Davis/Bree Scarbrough of the United States.