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| Beach Volleyball enters last 16 at Asian Beach Games | |
In the last day of pool competition, Dareen Ibrahim and Safaa Masoud from Syria beat Vietnam’s Phan Thi Cam Hong and Mai Thi Hoa 21-10, 21-9 to enter the last 16 while Rushaf Kassem and Alyasar Samoull of Syria beat a Laos duo 21-14, 18-21, 15-9. Syria’s Beach Volleyball coach Hanna Saba was far from ecstatic on Monday despite both women’s teams qualifying for the next round. "Our teams did not play well,” he said. “There were too many mistakes in our matches." Dareen Ibrahim and Safaa Masoud will play silver medalists from the Bali games Yupa Phokongpoly and Kamoltip Kulna of Thailand while Kassem and Samoull take on defending champions Usa Tenpaksee and Jarunee Sannok of Thailand. China’s Guangzhou gold and silver medalists Xue and Zhang and Huang Ying and Yue Yuan qualified for the medal matches without dropping a set. Japan’s formula of fresh pairings paid off as both teams moved into the final 16. But team official Satoshi Watanabe is wary about Chang Hui-Min and Kou Nai-Han of Chinese Taipei, Ayumi Kusano and Miki Oyama’s next opponents. "I have seen Chinese Taipei – we need to prepare well,” he said of the match. The Kusano and Oyama duo clinched a berth in the next round by defeating Timor-Leste’s Clemencia Lopes and Mariazinha Oliveira 21-9, 21-7, ending their Asian Beach Games campaign. Tuesday’s elimination round of 16 will determine the roster for the quarterfinals and semifinals on December 15 at Al Musannah Sports City. |
