Thai women make strong start in Songkhla
Heavy downpours played havoc Sunday.
Heavy rain on Saturday night forced with the opening day of the 14th Samila-Chang Asian Beach Volleyball Tour Samila Open in Songkhla on the organisers of the three-day meet to adapt the rules and delay the start from 8am to 10am instead. The best-of-three-sets format was retained but the winning line was reduced to 15 points from the usual 21. Deciding sets were played up to 11 points rather than 15.
A total of 46 teams from 14 countries hit Samila Beach for the opening day’s competition, which saw Thailand’s women spikers off to a strong start. Top seeds and Asian Beach Games winners Varapatsorn Radarong/Tanarattha Udomchavee of Thailand 1, shrugged off their disappointing fifth-place finish at last week’s Khanom Open in Nakhon Si Thammarat, to launch their title defence with a 15-13 15-11 win over Vietnam 1’s Truong Thi Yen/Nguyen Thi Mai.
Compatriots Jarunee Sannok/Usa Tenpaksee of Thailand 2 outclassed Hong Kong 2’s Yan Lo Wai/Mei Yeung Yeuk 15-6 15-9, but Thailand 3’s Rumpaipruet Num-wong/Khanittha Hongpak missed the bus when they went down to Kazakhstan 1’s Tatyana Mashkova/Irina Tsimbalova 11-15 12-15.
Australia 1’s Louise Anne Bawden/Taliqua Shanice Clancy maintained the form that won them the Khanom Open title last week, combining well to thrash Sri Lanka 1’s Dinesha Prasadani Jayamaha Hitiha-milage/Geethika Lalani Gunawardana Kuda Kottunnage 15-2 15-9 in 16 minutes, the day’s quickest clash. In the men’s competition, strong teams remained on course with top seeds Alexandr Dyachenko/Alexey Sidorenko of Kazakhstan trouncing Japan 2’s Shinya Hata/Yasuo Nakaya 15-8 15-8 in Pool A, and then brushing off Sri Lanka 1’s Pubudu Kumara Ekanayaka Ekanayakage/Asanka Pradeep Kumara Medagedara Lekamalage 15-11 15-13 in the afternoon contest.
In Pool B, Australia 1’s Isaac Leonard Kapa/Christopher Bernard McHugh, fresh from their Khanom Open triumph, first crushed Vietnam 2’s Nguyen Ngoc Quy/Bui Hai Dang 15-8 15-7 before beating Japan 1’s Yoshiumi Hasegawa/Yuya Ageba 15-9 15-11.
Local supporters had something to cheer about when Thailand 1’s Sittichai Sangkhachot/Prathip Sukto tamed Sri Lanka 2’s Sameera Sandaruwan Bombuwala Dewage/Ashen Jeevantha Fernando Warnakulasuriya 15-8 15-13 in the morning clash before marching on to stun Australia 2’s Samuel John Boehm/Cole James Brandon Durant with a magnificent come-from-behind 13-15 15-11 11-8 in the afternoon encounter.
Thailand 2’s Chutipong Sukarayotin/Chanchai Nakprakong recovered from a disappointing 3-15 9-15 preliminary-round defeat to New Zealand 1’s Ben Martin O’Dea/Jason William Lochhead by beating Vietnam 1’s Nguyen Trong Quoc/Nguyen Thanh Vinh 12-15 15-10 11-7.
