Beach Shorts: The week in the sands of the world

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China's Wang Fan and Xia Xinyi pose with the trophies of the Asian Beach Volleyball Tour (Photocredit: AVC)

It looks like it was all about China in the beach volleyball world this week. The country is hosting a four-star World Tour stop in Xiamen, was recently awarded to host another in Haiyang next July and its teams have won a tournament of the Asian Tour in Thailand. We tell all of this in and much more on this edition of our weekly column Beach Shorts.

Join us and be update on the highlights of the week:

Chinese teams dominate Asian Tour

Teams from China topped the podium in the Asian Beach Volleyball Tour this week in Songkhla, Thailand. In the women’s tournament, Wang Fan and Xia Xinyi were the winners, with Thailand’s Rumpaipruet Numwong/Khanittha Hongpak and Indonesia’s Dhita Juliana/Putu Utami finishing second and third. In men’s event, the victorious Gao Peng and Li Yang were joined in the podium by silver medalists Pribadi Danangsyah/Ramadhan Gilang of Indonesia and third-placed Salemiinjehboroun Bahman/Arash Vakili of Iran.

Asian Volleyball on Twitter

China's Gao Peng/Li Yang and Wang Fan/Xia Xinyi captured men's and women's titles at AVC BV Tour 19th Samila Open in Sonkhla, Thailand on Tuesday.#beachvolleyball #avcsamila #volleyball

New World Tour stop added

The Beach Volleyball World Tour will have an additional tournament this summer as the FIVB announced the inclusion of the Chinese city of Haiyang to the calendar. The coastal city, which hosted the third edition of the Asian Beach Games in 2012, will be the stage for a three-star tournament from July 18-22, right between the Gstaad and the Vienna Majors. The event in Haiyang will be the seventh held in a Chinese city in the 2017-2018 season of the World Tour.  

Beach Volleyball on Twitter

Haiyang stop added to #BeachWorldTour calendar https://t.co/Ls6LCC6iIE

Legends reunited in Florida

It’s not every day that two Olympic champions and four Olympians get together for a training session, right? But it happened this week as USA’s Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, Brazil’s Ricardo Santos and Canada’s Chaim Schalk all reunited in Orlando, Florida, to practice. Can you imagine what might have happened there?

Fim do primeiro dia de treino aqui no club. Muito bom ter esse grupo que atletas aqui no CT. End of today's training, very happy to have you here in CT..🏐👏🏽💪🏽 #beachvolleyball #olimpics #champion #voleidepraia #otva #volleyball #avp #fivb #cbviews

712 Likes, 16 Comments - Ricardo Santos (@ricardobeach1) on Instagram: "Fim do primeiro dia de treino aqui no club. Muito bom ter esse grupo que atletas aqui no CT. End of..."

Social Media: Guess who’s setting?

German Olympic champion Kira Walkenhorst had shoulder surgery a few months ago and she is making progress towards her return to the courts. The 27-year-old blocker is already working in the gym and she even tried setting a few ball this week. We hope we can have you back soon, Kira!

I am on my way back! First sets - not on the right surface, but it feels sooooo good😀 #theperfectmatch #newgoldenera #adidas #ALMASED #BARMER #Bridgestone #comdirect

1,619 Likes, 11 Comments - Kira @ Laura (@lauraludwig_kirawalkenhorst) on Instagram: "I am on my way back! First sets - not on the right surface, but it feels sooooo good😀..."

In case you missed it

Know more about German star Laura Ludwig’s pregnancy

Check how the Salgados share their passion for beach volleyball

Where in the world in Chen Xue?

Russians Stoyanovskiy and Velichko might become regular partners soon

See you next week!