Timy/Devota seal beach volleball hat trick, Agus/Koko eke out win
Timy/Devota seal beach volleball hat trick, Agus/Koko eke out win
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Ni Putu Timy and Devota Rahawarin swept their third consecutive women's LA Menthol Indonesia Open beach volleyball title on Sunday, while Agus Salim and Koko Prasetyo finally got their hands on the men's trophy.
After finishing runners-up in the Yogyakarta and Semarang legs to Andy Ardiansyah and Supriadi, the country's number one pairing of Agus and Koko squeezed out a 19-21, 21-11, 18-16 triumph over their perennial rivals before a packed crowd at Surabaya Plaza parking lot.
The home side took both crowns when Timy and Devota overpowered Malaysia's Luk Teck Eng and Shun Bing 21-15, 21-10 in 40 minutes.
The winners pocketed prize money of US$1,500.
"We expected the Malaysian pair would not present a serious threat to us in the match. They got points mostly because of our mistakes," Timy said.
Timy and Devota raced to a 4-0 lead and at the changeover they had widened the margin to five points at 13-8, thanks to Timy's tight marking at the back and Devota's almost unchallenged forays up front.
Shun Bing, who had been impressive during her pair's upset of Thailand's G. Kesenee and T. Arawan in the semifinals, looked nervous. She was allowed little space to find her range at the net, with Devota putting up good blocks on the opposing side.
With the raucous support of the home crowd behind them, Indonesia's hopefuls for the next Southeast Asian Games kept up the pressure in the second game to win.
"I felt nervous myself but I was soon able to overcome it," Devota said.
She is looking forward to the upcoming grand final in Jakarta -- featuring the top 24 teams from the previous legs -- and said her pairing would work to become more focused to face more foreign pairings.
Shun, who played with a strapped foot, said she was exhausted after back-to-back quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Saturday.
"I didn't feel well today after playing four games yesterday. So today we had no energy."
The men's final came down to the wire, with Andy and Supriadi coming achingly close to a hat trick of titles in a thrilling third game.
At 7 all, Agus upped his game through strong smashes to take a two-point lead, but the score then went back and forth until 12- 12.
A failed Agus smash gave Andy and Supriadi the lead, with victory achingly close. It was then that Agus stepped up his game once again and powered his team to their first title.