Teams get set for semis in volleyball c'ships

JAKARTA (JP): Teams from Java -- home team Jakarta, East Java, Yogyakarta and West Java -- will all be participating in the semifinals of the 2001 interchapter national volleyball championships.

The four teams were undefeatable in their overall four matches as of Thursday and would decide their head-to-head clashes in the final qualifying round on Friday. Champions of each pool will meet the runners-up of another pool.

On the men's side, Jakarta will meet East Java while Yogyakarta will face West Java on Friday. In the women's competition Jakarta will take on East Java while West Java is set to fight South Sumatra.

On the fourth day of the qualifying round, Banten women's team recorded its first win over Central Java 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25- 10). Central Java has not yet won a single match held at the basketball hall in the Bung Karno Sports Complex.

Another match saw Yogyakarta women's team outclass West Nusa Tenggara 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-14).

Jakarta men's team was no match for North Sumatra, beating it 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-18). West Java also showed its strength by ousting West Nusa Tenggara 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-21).

In another event, Yogyakarta beat East Kalimantan 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-17) while East Java was too powerful for Central Kalimantan defeating them 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-18).

Jakarta men's team coach Sarmili said after the match that his team would prefer to meet Yogyakarta in the semifinals rather than West Java.

"We will fight all-out on Friday. I would prefer to compete against Yogyakarta in the semifinals to ease our way to the final. West Java players have better technical skills so it's better to fight them in the final. Hopefully we can reach that far," he said.

He added, however, that the Jakarta team had the advantage of having players with equal skills.

West Java men's team head coach Agus Djumaedi said he did not want to guess the opponent in the last qualifying round on Friday.

"I would also prefer to fight East Java in the semifinals because Jakarta players have equal skills. But the team representing East Java possess a good fighting spirit," he said. (ivy)