Top seeds face off in Bali Open beach volleyball final

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

The Bali Open beach volleyball tournament has lived up to the script as the top two seeds -- both Brazilians -- marched to the final after they won their semifinal matches here on Saturday.

Top seeds Renata Ribeiro and Talita Antunes will be up against second seeds Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede in Sunday's final of the US$200,000 tournament, which is part of the Swatch-Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) World Tour.

But it was not an easy semifinal match for the top seeds, which saw them stretched to a three-game tussle before claiming a 21-19, 18-21, 15-13 win over countrywomen, sixth seeds Ana Paula Connelly and Leila Baros.

It was an exciting game throughout with both teams battling mightily for every sideout.

Ribeiro and Antunes found themselves two points down before getting back to 12-12, thanks to Ribeiro's strong blocking. Towards the end of the first game, they were again were forced to play catch up before Ribeiro's block on set-point won it.

But concentration deserted them, trailing throughout to allow Connelly and Baros to even the score in the second set.

The top seeds seemed to continue to falter with them falling behind by two points early in the third before regrouping. The two sides shared the points before the top seeds raced to a two- point lead at 9-7 after Baros' serve hit the net and Ribeiro, 24, launched an undefended spike.

Ribeiro and Antunes accelerated their rhythm of play with a string of strong spikes and it was Talita's, 23, that ended the game 15-13.

"Our chance in the final is wide open, but we want to play well to win the final," Ribeiro said. The pair won the Greece Open earlier this month.

"It will be a tough match as Brazilian players are always good."

Behar and Bede had an easier task, booking their final place with a 21-14, 21-15 over Greek pair Efthalia Koutroumanidou and Maria Tsiartsiani.

The 2004 Olympic silver medalists are looking to repeat their previous successful trip to Indonesia when they won the Jakarta Open back in 1996.

"Probably, we have good luck in Indonesia," Behar, 36, said. "Our chance in the final is big."

Sunday's program will be preceded by the playoff match between semifinal losers at 1:30 p.m. Bali time.

The winner will receive US$32,000 in prize money, with runners-up $22,000 and third place $16,000.

After the Bali Open, the World Tour will continue in Salvador, Brazil, from Oct. 18 to Oct. 23.