RI's qualifiers spiked in Bali

RI's qualifiers spiked in Bali

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

Three Indonesian pairings lost their qualifying matches at the
US$200,000 Bali Open beach volleyball tournament at Sanur beach
on Wednesday, exiting the tournament on the first day of play.

The event is part of the Swatch-Federation Internationale de
Volleyball World Tour and gives local players the opportunity to
test their skills against world-class opponents.

However, Gina Andriana and Minarni, Engel Bertha Kaize and
Ninik Nuraida, Henny Diliana and Nelly Fangidae found the
competition too tough, all losing in two games.

Gina and Minarni were thumped by Thailand's top pairing of
Kamoltip Kulna and Jarunee Sannok, losing 21-9, 21-6 in 23
minutes. The Thais were the 2003 Southeast Asia (SEA) Games gold
medalists.

Bertha and Ninik went down to Yupa Puklongploy and Usa
Tenpaksee, also from Thailand, 21-14, 21-14 in 39 minutes, while
Heny and Nelly Fangidae lost to Helene Yahiel and Kevienne
Etienne of France 21-10, 21-13 in 24 minutes.

Gina offered no excuses for the loss. "We just lost."

Despite the lopsided margin they enjoyed, Kulna said it was
not an easy game against the Indonesians.

"I am happy that we can go to the main draw," she said.

Kulna, 28, and Sannok, 24, finished 17th in a tournament in
Montreal, Canada, last year, while their best finish this year
was 25th in Japan.

"Now our chance to advance to the next rounds still depends on
the draw tonight," Kulna said.

Bertha blamed the defeat on a lack of preparation. "Our
opponents are not special ... but we just arrived yesterday
evening (Tuesday) after finishing a tournament in Surabaya. So we
didn't have time to adjust to the ball. The ball was too light
for me to make a perfect hit."

Thailand did not have it all its own way on Wednesday. Kasinee
Godtalang and Arawan Tongkamkak, who featured in the recent
Indonesia Open, were defeated by Hana Klapalova and Tereza
Petrova of the Czech Republic 21-17, 21-13.

Twenty-four teams automatically qualified for the 32-team main
draw, which will begin play on Thursday. The other eight teams in
the main draw had to make their way through the qualifying round.

The main draw was reduced to 32 after several late
withdrawals. Olympic champions Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor,
and Elaine Youngs and Rachel Wacholder of the U.S. withdrew on
Tuesday. Rieke Brink-Abeler and Hella Jurich of Germany also
pulled out of the tournament.

The withdrawals have made the Brazilian pairs of Renata
Ribeiro and Talita Antunes, and 2004 Olympic silver medalists
Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede the one and two seeds,
respectively. The Dutch pair Rebekka Kadijk and Mere Moore is the
third seed.