China is set for the final showdown of 2010 Asian Games Beach Volleyball Tournament
China’s women duos have proved their mettle in the 16th Asian Games Beach Volleyball Championship once again. The final match will be played between the home team. The second-seeded pair of Huang Ying and Yue Yuan of China outplayed Malaysian
Luk teck Hua and Beh Shun Thing in the first semi-final of the tournament. They ousted Malaysian duo with a score of 2-0 (21-7and 21-13) on Monday, 22nd November, 2010. Likewise, the top-seeded pair of Xue Chen and Zhang Xi also confirmed their
participation in the final showdown by semi-final victory. Xue and Zhang posted a brilliant 2-0 (21-16 and 21-14) victory over Usa Tenpaksee and Jarunee Sannok of Thailand on the same day.
The emotional support of fans and competitive edge of home-soil benefitted home teams and enabled them to play in the most influential match of the tournament.
First semi-final
The first semi-final of the Beach Volleyball Tournament brought China’s Huang Ying/Yue Yuan and Luk Teck Hua/Beh ShunThing of Malaysia together. It was the second meeting of these two teams. Malaysia had defeated Chinese team in the opening match but China
took the sweet revenge by winning the semi-final. It took them just 29 minutes to launch their authority over the Malaysian duo in the semi-final competition.
Home team opened the match with perfect serves. Yue produced unstoppable under-hand shots and took the score by storm. Huang also played her part and performed in a great way. The wonderful combination of Yue and Huang devastated Malaysian team with strong
lead of 9-1 in first set. The hard hitting continued and they didn’t allow Malaysian players to stand on their feet. China secured the first set by posting 21-7 victory.
Malaysia’s duo struggled hard to gain better status in second set but they failed to penetrate the killing spikes and deadly aces of Chinese team. They could only help 13 points, while China covered the length of second set. The duo of Yue and Huang qualified
for the final match on Tuesday.
Talking of success, Yue Yuan said, “My coach told us just to play a relaxed game but attack aggressively. Coming this far, to the final, I think we have fulfilled our target because if Zhang and Xue beat Thailand in the next semi-final clash and whoever
wins the final, the gold medal belongs to China for sure."
Likewise, Luk Teck Hua of Malaysia expressed her thoughts after losing the important semi-final match. She said,
"Our performance is far from what we produced in the previous matches. It was not as good as we had expected. We made a lot of mistakes, especially on receiving serves. Huang attacked so fast, while Yue came up with great serves."
Second semi-final
In the second semi-final Xue Chen/Zhang Xi of China defeated Thailand’s Usa Tenpaksee/Jarunee Sannok by sending 2-0 (21-16 21-14). Thai players fought bravely and created a lot of buzz in the game. However, they lost the first set with a margin of two points.
Xue and Zhang put more pressure on the rival side in the next set and tightened their screws. China proved to be better side and clinched victory in straight sets. Xue and Zhang joined their country mates in the final encounter of 2010 Asian Games Beach Volleyball
Championship.
Xue was satisfied with the progress of their team. She said, "We played well. They tried hard to challenge us seriously, but since they are much shorter, their counter-attacking did not pay off well. Our opponents have become stronger each time. We haven't
faced too much of a challenge in past games but as the matches continue, we've felt increasingly under pressure. We'll play Huang and Yue in the final and I myself have not thought much about the gold medal as it's already with us Chinese people. However,
I will do my best to retain my title."
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