10 teams gear up for Asian Beach Volleyball tour
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Ten Asian and Pacific countries have been confirmed to take part in the Asian Beach Volleyball Tour in Bali next week as Indonesia's pairs will have much at stake ahead of the 2002 Asian Games.
The Bali event, which will be the fourth edition of the tour this year, will run from Aug. 23 though Aug. 25 at the Seminyak Beach.
During the organizers' first media conference, they announced that as many as 21 countries would show up.
"We have called them several times but there has been no response," Hanny Surkatty, the chairman of the organizing committee, told the news conference on Wednesday.
The entire 32 teams will be competing for a total of US$20,000 in prize money.
However, some of the top pairs who dominated the last tour in China early this month were not on the participants' list, copies of which were made available to the media.
Those absentees are Pavel Zabuslayev and Dmitry Vorobyev of Kazakhstan, Zhao Chicheng and Teng Maomin of China, who took second and third places respectively in the men's category in China.
In the women's category, China has registered two teams but they will not come with Sun Jing and Han Bo, who placed third.
New Zealand seemed undecided over whom Kirk Pirtman would be paired this time around with, after his winning streak in China where he was teamed up with Jones Hayden.
Thailand, whose best performance before was a runner-up status in the women's field, courtesy of M. Pangka and R. Ariaisuk, has not submitted its lineup either.
Host Indonesia will challenge the visiting contenders with six pairs: Agus Salim and Koko Prasetyo, Supriadi and Andy Ardiansah, Markoji and Irikhun Shofanna in the men's division, and Ni Putu Timmy Yudhani and Siti Nurjanah, Riesma Siswardini and Emerita Arisanti, and Agustine Sineri and Niniek Nuraids in the women's division.
The first two pairs in each division are national hopefuls for the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, next month and they will take to the court, fully aware that a slipup could cost them their places in the Asian Games.