Timy and Devota survive first round at Bali Open

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

Indonesians Ni Putu Timy Yudhani and Devota Rahawarin survived the opening round of the Bali Open beach volleyball tournament on Thursday, while the top-seeded Brazilian duo eased their way into the next round.

Timy and Devota lost their opening match against the Austrian pair of Barbara Hansel and Chrisi Gschweidl in three games, 21- 17, 12-21, 15-12, before eking out a two-game win over the Norwegians Nila Han Hakedal and Ingrid Torlen 23-21, 21-19 in their second match at the US$200,000 tournament, which has a double-elimination format.

"We did our best today ... we know their level of play is above us," Timy said about the match. "They played fast balls with strong spikes, but we slowed the play down and minimized our mistakes."

Another home pair, Iim Mukadimah and Ike Prasetyowati, crashed out of the tournament, losing their two matches on Thursday. The Indonesians were defeated 21-13, 21-8 by Simon Kuhn and Lea Schwer of Switzerland, and 21-13, 21-13 by Erika Nystrom and Emilia Nystrom of Finland.

The top two seeds in the tournament, Brazil's Renata Riberio and Talita Antunes, and Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede won both their matches on the opening day of play in the main draw.

However, the third seeds Rebekka Kadijk and Merel Mooren of Netherlands lost their second match, forcing them into the losers' bracket.

Riberio and Antunes easily beat Thai qualifiers Usa Tenpaksee and Yupa Puklongpoy 21-17, 21-13 in their first match, while Behar and Bede topped Thailand's top pair Kamoltif Kulna and Jarunee Sannok 21-7, 17-21, 15-10.

The two top seeds carried on their winning form with Ribeiro and Antunes beating Sara Montagnoli and Sabine Swoboda of Austria 21-13, 21-16, while Behar and Bede defeated Perrotta and Lunardi of Italy 21-19, 21-12.

Kadijk and Merel, who scored an opening 21-15, 16-21, 15-13 win over the Czech Republic duo Hana Klapalova-Tereza Petrova, fell to Hamzaoui and Barrera of France 21-16, 21-15 in their second match.

While the tournament, part of the beach volleyball 2005 World Tour, features world-class players, the biggest draw for fans were the matches featuring homegrown players.

Timy and Devota, who along with Iim and Ike are preparing for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games in Manila, faced a very difficult opponent in their second match against the Norwegian pair, but were able to battle back for the crucial win.

But Iim and Ike looked very much outclassed in their two matches.

"Their physical builds, their technique are really above ours," Iim said. "We were not nervous. We were simply beaten by their better volleyball technique."

Timy put it down to a lack of international tournaments.

"We lack experience and confidence against them. They seem very professional and can easily adapt to any circumstances," Timy said.

"But I am very satisfied with our play today. We played good volleyball and were able to give them a hard time during the match."