Beach v'ball final ends in controversy

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The men's final of the National Beach Volleyball competition in Jakarta ended in controversy when Irilkhun Soffana and Makroji of East Java quit after losing the first set in the final against Supriadi and Arandi Ardiansyah for what they called biased umpiring.

Supriadi and Arandi, also of East Java, won the first set 27- 25 but the match was abandoned when their opponents refused to continue play in protest over some of the referee's calls. They blamed the bad calls for ruining their play.

Supriadi and Arandi were then declared the winners of the final held inside the Bung Karno sports complex in Central Jakarta.

Earlier, Agus Salim and I Made Sumaryana of West Nusa Tenggara took third place after destroying Roy Raynold and Slamet Untung of West Java 19-21, 21-7, 15-9.

In the women's category, Engel Berta Kaise/Yayah Rodiah of Jakarta were surprise winners after beating Timy Yudhani/Yohana Elisabeth of West Nusa Tenggara 21-16, 16-21, 15-11.

Yayah said that she was surprised to win over Timy, who is a member of the national team being groomed for the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam this December.

"The team gave us the target of simply getting into the top six. But better than that we win!" she told reporters after the match.

Timy said that she was not too disappointed by the loss given that she was had recently been paired with Yohana.

"They were just better than us, but we'll be doing well," she said confidently.

Earlier, Erlina Veronika/Iva Kusumawati of East Java grabbed the third place with a crushing 14-21, 21-13, 15-9 win over Trisiwi Susilowati/Nelly Diaz of West Nusa Tenggara.

The four-day event, which provided a qualifying field for the 2004 National Games in Palembang, South Sumatra, featured 37 men's and 27 women's teams.

Sixteen teams for both the men's and women's categories will qualify for the Palembang meet.

Meanwhile, Slamet Haryanto, the head coach for the national training camp, said that five men and four women were currently being groomed for the SEA Games.

The SEA Games hopefuls are Agus Salim, Koko Prasetyo, Suratno, Supriadi, Arandi Ardiansyah, Ninik Nuraidah, Minarni, Siti Nurjanah and Timy Yudhani.