Australians sweep titles at South Sumatra Governor Cup Palembang Open

 Palembang, Indonesia, April 23, 2016 – Australia showed their power at the 5th South Sumatra Governor Cup AVC Beach Tour Palembang Open by capturing both the men’s and women’s titles on Saturday.

Asian champions Isaac Kapa/ Christopher McHugh powered past Alexey Kuleshov/ Dmitriy Yakovlev from Kazakhstan 2-1 (21-16, 15-21, 20-18) in the hard-fought men’s showdown, while Phoebe Bell/ Becchara Palmer took the women’s title by beating Kazakh veterans Tatyana Mashkova/ Irina Tsimbalova 2-0 (22-20, 21-14).

In-form Kapa/ McHugh, who last month beat compatriots Cole Durant/ Bo Soderberg to win their third Asian crown, claimed their first title of the year in Asia when they beat Kazakhstan’s Alexandr Dyachenko/ Alexey Sidorenko, at the AVC Beach Tour Pak Bara Open in Thailand on April 11. However, the Aussies were beaten by their Kazakhstan rivals at the Samila Open in Songkhla, Thailand, on April 16. In Saturday’s final, Australia 1’s Kapa/ McHugh found Kazakhstan 2’s Kuleshov/ Yakovlev a tough nut to crack. 

In the semifinals, the Aussies struggled hard to beat New Zealanders Ben O’Dea/ Tom Hartles 2-1 (21-18, 26-28, 15-10), while the Kazakh duo had …

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