Sri Lankans finish day 1 of Continental Cup with 4-0 record – Volleyball news
The 2012 AVC Continental Women’s Beach Volleyball Cup got underway on Saturday, January 21 in Negombo, Sri Lanka.
Eight women’s teams from Maldives, Kazakhstan, India, and host Sri Lanka jumped on board and ran the amazing show of beach volleyball on the sandy Sri Lankan beach. Each country sent two teams in the competition.
The opening day of the tournament featured eight games, where ladies from Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan launched authority on others. The hosts played in front of their local fans and totally benefitted the competitive advantage. They remained undefeated on day-1
and finished with an outstanding 4-0 record. The host Sri Lanka played with following two pairs in the tournament:
Thakshila Gunasinghe and Geethika Gunawardana Sagari Gunasinghe and Nirosha Lakmini Gunasinghe
First match
Sri Lanka’s top pair of T. Gunasinghe and Geethika Gunawardana opened the day with a great 2-0 (21-9, 21-5) win over Maldives’s Mariyam Azeefa and Haleemath Sama. The home duo enjoyed a wonderful form and also had the rowdy fans for their support.
They started out well and dominated the scene from start to end. The Maldives duo failed to penetrate the power of hard spikes and aces from the hosts. They dropped first set with a margin of 12 points, which enabled Sri Lankans to take full control of the
game in the following set. They restricted the opponents to just 5 points in the second set and finished the match in straight set, which put the host side in front 1-0.
Second match
In the next match, the home team’s second duo of S. Gunasinghe/ G.H. Nirosha Lakmini wiped out the other team of Maldives, which comprised of Agila Hamid and Fathimath Zeeniya Moosa. The home side posted 2-0 (21-2, 21-3) win over the visiting team.
The guest duo was already under-pressure after the defeat of their country mates in the previous match. They started off poorly and dropped many of the easy shots in first few minutes. The Sri Lankans attained a great rhythm and incorporated flurry of points.
It seemed as if the ball just needed the touch of their hands and it would land on Maldives’ side. The guest duo could only score five points in the whole match and lost badly.
Third match
The charged up Sri Lankan team of T. Gunasinghe/ Geethika Gunawardana returned to action in the third match. They witnessed the Agila-Zeenia pairing on the other side of the net, which hardly posed any threat for the top team from Sri Lanka.
The Maldives performed comparatively better than their previous match. However, their improved performance was still not enough to beat the Sri Lankans. They dropped first set at 9-21 and ended up the second set with final score of 11-21. Hence, the home
duo claimed 2-0 win in the match.
Fourth match
Sri Lanka’s Gunasinghe-Nirosha posted 2-0 (21-7, 21-7) win over Azza-Sama of Maldives in fourth match. The hosts finished the day-1 with absolute success and emerged as top contender for the Olympic Ticket.
Tags: