Qatar, Vanuatu share top honours in Khanom Asian Beach Volleyball Tour Khanom, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, April 11, 2014 - Qatar and Vanuatu stamped their authority over the 5th Khanom-Chang Asian Beach Volleyball Tour at Nadan Beach here on Friday, with Qataris Tiago De J Santos/Pereira Santos taking the mens title after a hard-fought three-set win over Kazakhs Alexandr Dyachenko/Alexey Sidorenko. The women’s honour went to talented Elvin Miller/Latika Henriette of Vanuatu, who defied against all odds to stun Australia 1s Nicole Laird/Mariafe Artacho with a magnificent come-from-behind 2-1 (13-21 21-12 15-11) victory in 46 minutes. In the mens final on Friday, Qatar 1’s Tiago De J Santos/Pereira Santos set up a daunting clash against Dyachenko/Sidorenko of Kazakhstan 1, who won the 2012 edition. After the opening-set loss 18-21, the Qataris turned up heat on a tough fight against the Kazakhs to win the next two sets 21-19 15-12 and the gruelling 61-minute showdown. The third place went to Kazakhstan 2s Dmitriy Yakovlev/Alexey Kuleshov after producing a nail-biting 15-21 21-19 15-13 win over Iran 1s R. Raoufi/B.Salemi. In the semi-finals earlier, Kazakhstan 1s Dyachenko/Sidorenko beat Iran 1s R Raoufi/B. Salemi 19-21 21-13 15-11. With the victory, Dyachenko/Sidorenko advanced to the final round, making a step closer to retaining their pride lost in the last years showdown against Aussies Leonard Isaac Kapa/Christopher Bernard McHugin. However, the Kazakh duos sweet dreams turned out to a nightmare following their stunning loss to Qatar 1 in the showdown. The other semi-final encounter saw Qatar 1s Tiago De J Santos/Pereira Santos power past Kazakhstan 2s Yakovlev/Kuleshov 21-18 21-14. Contesting the quarter-finals on the same day earlier, Kazakhstan 1s Alexandr Dyachenko/Alexey Sidorenko brushed off Indonesia 1s Koko Prasetyo Darkkuncoro/Ade Candra Rahmawan, winners at the 2012 Asian Beach Games in China, in comfortable straight sets 21-15 21-17. Elsewhere, Iran 1s R. Raoufi/B Salembi made a successful comeback after losing the first set 23-25 to Australia 2s Joshua Court /Damien Schumann to win the remaining two sets 21-14 15-13, while Qatar 1s Tiago De J Santos/Pereira Santos challenged P. Farrokhi/A. Salagh seriously to beat the Iran 2s tandem 19-21 21-13 15-12 and Kazakhstan 2s Dmitriy Yakovlev/Alexey Kuleshov downed New Zealand 2s Samuel Odea/Michael Watson 21-7 21-16. In the womens event, Vanuatus Miller/Latika Henriette succumbed the easy first set defeat 13-21 at the hands of Australia 1s Mariafe Artacho/Nicole Laird, but they bounced back mightily to take the remaining two sets 21-12 15-11 and the 46-minute championship match. The third place was won by Kazakhstan 1s Tatyana Mashkova/Irina Tsimbalova, who entirely smashed Thai dreams following the 16-21 21-13 16-14 win in the hotly-contested showdown against Thailand 1s Varapatsorn Radarong/Tanarattha Udomchavee. The semi-finals earlier saw Australia 1s Laird/Artacho stunned the 2012 Asian Beach Games gold medallists Udomchavee/Radarong of Thailand 1 22-20 21-15, with Vanuatus Miller/Henriette beating Kazakhstan 1s Mashkova/Tsimbalova in hard-fought three-set thriller 15-21 21-17 15-12 in 53 minutes. On Saturday, all the participating players will move to Songkhla province, around 280km far from the Khanom site, for their continuing battle in the 15th Samila-Chang Asian Beach Volleyball Tour between April 14 to 16. Sunday, April 13, will be Songkran Day or the Water Sparkling Festival in Thailand. All the players will be invited to join a festival-celebration march around the city for the fun-packed water splashing festival. The preliminaries of the Samila meet will kick off on April 14.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Apr 2014 11:46:45 +0000
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