Brazil's Ribeiro, Antunes win Bali Open volleyball
Brazil's Ribeiro, Antunes win Bali Open volleyball
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Bali
Renata Ribeiro, 24, and Talita Antunes, 23, of Brazil won the
US$200,000 Bali Open beach volleyball championship on Sunday,
their second consecutive win in the Swatch-Federation
Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) World Tour after Athens early
this month.
The top seeds defeated second seeds, fellow Brazilians Adriana
Behar, 36, and Shelda Bede, 32, 21-19, 27-25 in a close and
entertaining match.
The two sides were involved in a tight game throughout
as they tried hard to find space over the net with blistering
spikes.
However, with good blocks and resilient digs, they kept the
ball going, spurred on by the enthusiasm of the around 2,500
spectators on Sanur beach.
Ribeiro and Antunes opened with a 2-0 lead, but Adriana and
Bede, the silver medalists at the 2004 Olympic Games, leveled at
3-3 before taking over 7-5 thanks to Behar's unchallenged blocks.
Antunes drilled a string of spikes to turn the score to 9-7
before they were pegged back at 10-10 through Bede's countering
spikes.
The two sides were tied up to 16-16 when the younger pair
pulled once again to a 18-16 lead, courtesy of Antunes' jumping
spikes, before sealing the opening game 21-19.
Ribeiro and Antunes continued their dominance in the second
game to take charge 15-12.
Behar was conspicuous with her outstanding spikes in the later
stage of the game as the pair fought back. They even took a game
point, but Ribeiro and Antunes forced the game into a deuce.
After deuces six times, Ribeiro and Antunes wrapped up the
game and the match.
"We are very happy to win the final," Ribeiro said in a press
conference. "This is the second consecutive win after we won in
Athens."
Ribeiro said that it was always difficult to play against
fellow Brazilians due to their on-par level of play.
"The key for us to win is that we enjoy ourselves and we play
well on the court. Victory is the result," she said.
With the win, Ribeiro and Antunes took home the top prize of
US$32,000. Antunes was named the best player of the tournament.
"This award is for both of us actually as I could not have
achieved this without Renata (Ribeiro), "Antunes said.
Meanwhile, Behar said they had played a good match, but she
and Bede made more mistakes than their opponents.
"We made more mistakes, and our serves are poor today," she
said. "Probably we are also slower than we were yesterday."
In the playoff match between semifinal losers, Greek pair
Efthalia Koutroumanidou, 23, and Maria Tsiartsiani, 25, defeated
Brazilian duo Ana Paula Connelly, 33, and Leila Baros, 34, 21-17,
17-21, 15-13.
The next stop will be Salvador, Brazil (Oct. 18 to Oct. 23),
followed by the Acapulco Open, Mexico (Oct. 25 to Oct. 30) and
Cape Town Open, South Africa (Nov. 16 to Nov. 20).