Players hope for good draw in Bali volleyball tourney

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Bali

The US$200,000 Bali Open, one of the stops on this year's Swatch-Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) World Tour, begins on Wednesday with some players hoping for a good draw to help them advance in the tournament.

The five-day event at Sanur beach will feature 48 pairs, 24 of which will qualify automatically for the main draw. The rest of the field will have to fight for one of the remaining eight slots in the main round.

The draw was scheduled to be held late on Tuesday.

"Our chance here depends on the draw," Rebekka Kadijk of the Netherlands, who plays with Mere Moore, said on Tuesday.

"We are aiming for ninth position at least, but again, it depends on the draw."

She said Brazilians Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede, Greeks Efthalia Koutroumanidou and Maria Tsiartsiani, and the Swiss pair of Simone Kuhn and Lea Schwer were among the favorites in the field.

Apart from the heat, Kadijk said the venue with its wind was ideal for beach volleyball.

Kadijk and Moore were runners-up at the Beach Volleyball European Championship this year. They finished seventh in this year's World Beach Volleyball Championship.

"So far we have done pretty OK in beach volleyball," the 26- year-old Kadijk said.

Thailand coach Nanthaht Nan said the draw would be vital for his teams.

"We can only say that our players' chances depend on the draw," he said. "If we don't meet tough players we might get into the main draw."

Thailand has sent three teams to the tournament, all of whom must fight their way into the main draw.

The experienced Kamoltip Kulna and Jarunee Sannok, who won the gold medal at the 2003 Southeast Asia Games, will lead the younger Thai pairings of Yupa Puklongploy and Usa Tenpaksee, and Kasinee Godtalang and Arawan Tongkamkak.

Brazilian players Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede said they did not have a specific goal for the tournament, with Bede just recovering from an injury.

"We just want to play good here and leave this tournament without injury," Behar said.

Behar and Bede were the silver medalists at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and again at the 2004 Games in Athens.

Indonesia has five teams entered in the tournament.

Ni Putu Timy Yudhani and Devota Rahawarin, coming off a victory at the Indonesia Open, and Iim Mukadimah and Ike Prasetyowati have received places in the main draw.

Engel Berta Kaize and Ninik Nuraida, Gina Andriana and Minarni, Heny Diliana and Nelly Fangidae will have to go through the qualifying rounds.