| Chinese and Thai pairs enter last 16 at Asian Beach Games | |
Mai, who returned to training five months ago, said: "I have two beautiful children, aged three and one. It’s a long way from home being in Oman but I’m here." She and playing partner Phan Thi Cam Hong lost 21-18, 21-14 to the Chinese pair after threatening to cause an upset when the score was 17-17 in the first set. "The match showed the importance of playing well and working hard," said Mai. "The Chinese are very strong and tall." And on Phan she said: "She is a good partner. You don’t play Volleyball with each other for 10 years without it being fun." Guangzhou Asian Games silver medalists Huang and Yue trailed in the second set before winning the game to finish top of Pool B with a perfect records and eight points. China’s Zhang Xi and Xue Chen beat Phonedany Douangsavanh and Pany Nanthavong of Laos 21-11, 21-9 to stay top of Pool A but Zhang says the Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze medalists are letting errors threaten their bid for a third major title this year. "We did not perform very well and we made a few mistakes," she said. "This is probably because the season has been really long, so now we feel very tired. But as the Games go on I think we will perform better in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final." Staying motivated is obviously an ongoing challenge for Zhang even if she and Xu have the incentive of adding the Muscat 2010 title to the gold medals they won at the 2010 Asian Championships and Asian Games. "Playing in the national Volleyball team can be interesting," she said. "If you meet strong competitors you enjoy the game a lot. But sometimes it is boring, because you know the training period is long and you have to practise the same thing again and again to master the skills." Thailand, Japan and Chinese Taipei are possible opponents for the Chinese duo as the competition moves into the knockout stage on Tuesday, and Zhang has been highly impressed with the standard of play in Muscat. Thailand’s two women’s teams were both successful in matches against the Japanese. In the game of the day, Bali 2008 silver medalists Yupa Phokongpoly and Kamoltip Kulna of Thailand came from behind to beat Mutsumi Ozaki and Anjiera Ishidaof Japan 19-21, 21-11, 15-12. Usa Tenpaksee and Jarunee Sannok from Thailand sealed a 21-9, 21-14 victory over Ayumi Kusano and Miki Oyama of Japan."The service – it was miss, miss, miss," said Kusano. Yupa Phokongpoly and Kamoltip Kulna and Usa Tenpaksee and Jarunee Sannok finished first in Pool C and Pool D respectively, both with eight points from four wins and no losses. Syria’s women celebrated their first wins in Beach Volleyball when Dareen Ibrahim and Safaa Masoud defeated Shahnoza Nazirova and Rukhshona Taygunshoeva of Tajikistan 21-5, 21-4, while Alyasar Samoull and Rushaf Kassem beat Shaffa Aishath and Yumna Abdul of Maldives 21-9, 21-10. |
