Indonesia and Kazakhstan join China in semi-finals of AVC Beach Volleyball Championship, Haiku, China
The men’s quarter-finals of the AVC Beach Volleyball Championship were held on Friday, 22nd October, 2010. Teams from China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Oman and Australia got access to success in the last 16 rounds and played for quarter-final
berths. The Holiday Beach in Haikou, China hosted the fabulous beach action and two home pairs reaffirmed their dream to get their hands on the title trophy and exhibited a wonderful game.
Wu Penggen/XuLingyin and GaoPeng and Li Jian proved their endeavour and cinched their spots in the semi-finals by defeating Japan’s Kentaro Asahi/Katsuhiro Shiratori and Alexey Kulinich and DmitriyYakovlev of Kazakhstan, respectively. Quite similarly, the
remaining two quarter-final matches were played among Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Australia. Two duos from Indonesia encountered each other, in order to qualify for the semi-final, while the last quarter-final match was played by Kazakhstan and Australia.
Indonesia 1 vs. Indonesia 2 (23-25, 21-18, and 15-7)
The third seeded Andy Ardiansyah and Koko PrasetyoDarkuncoro from Indonesia clashed with compatriots Ade Candra and Santosain in the quarter-final under the tags of Indonesia 1 and Indonesia 2.
The pair of Andy and Koko came powerful on their opponents in the first set and worked out good shots. They showed no mercy to their compatriots but Candra/Santosain defended them very well. They received the fast moving spikes with great power and returned
the ball in rivals’ half. Both sides traded the lead regularly and the game kept on moving on a fast pace. It was a quite a sight to watch the two sides battling on the sand. The fans screamed out their lungs in the support of their favourite players. The
situation remained undecided until the end. The point-to-point finally ended with a killing shot from Candra/Santosain of Indonesia 2. They thrashed 25-23 victory over Andy/Koko in first set.
Indonesia 1 fought back in the second set and picked up an early lead over Candra/Santosain. They attacked aggressively and didn’t allow their counterparts to regain the control of operation in game. Candra produced good underhand shots but this time, the
strong defence from Koko didn’t allow Ind 2 to score points. The exchange of heavy shots continued up till the finish line. The strong jump serves and spikes full of rage enabled Andy/Koko to cruise past Candra/Santosain in the second set. They levelled the
game score by posting 21-18.
The third decisive set was the real test of Indonesian players on both sides of the net. There was hardly any room for mistakes in the third set. The victory in second set put up a perfect rhythm and tone for Andy/Koko and they opened the third set with
strong lead. They played with great style and took the game by storm. The other side was stunned by the severe attack and became irresistible. Andy/Koko put pressure on the competitor side with a delivery of unstoppable hits. They contributed quick points
in their score and finished the third set with the help of 15-7. It was a humiliating defeat for the pair of Candra/Santosain but they couldn’t help it. Andy and Koko qualified for the semi-finals of AVC Beach Volleyball Championship.
Kazakhstan vs. Australia 2-0 (21-19, 21-15)
The fourth match of the day saw Alexey Sidorenko/ Alexandre Dyachenko of Kazakhstan in a head-to-head battle with Australia’s Christopher McHugh/Joshua Slack. The fight continued for 41 minutes and finally Kazakhstan proved to be the better side and confirmed
its participation in the semi-final with Andy/Koko of Indonesia.
The first set of the match was a close fight but Kazakhstan put more effort after the second technical timeout and gained the commanding role. They successfully pushed Australian pair behind the attack line and secured first set at 21-19. The second set
of the game also came successful for Kazakh duo and they ousted Aussies by sending 21-15. Kazakhstan enjoyed the victory and quarter-final and moved to the next stage of the game.
Tags: