Malaysia's Shun Thing Beh said she know's the competition will be tough for her and partner Teck Hua Luk as they qualified for the Main Draw of the FIVB Chennai Challenger on Tuesday.
Chennai, India, September 28, 2010 - Malaysian pair Shun Thing Beh and Teck Hua Luk were visibly excited as they earned qualification to the Main Draw of the FIVB Chennai Challenger Beach Volleyball championship following a 23-21, 13-21 and 15-9 win over Kazakhstan’s Issayeva Lyudmilla and Rakhmatulina Inna in India on Tuesday.
“We just had 18 points to our credit, play mostly in the Asian circuit and had to come through the qualifiers,” Shun Thiang said after the match. “We are very happy to have made it to the main draw as it means we also earn some prize money.”
“Having entered the main draw, we need to try and do better,” Teck Hua added. “We know the competition is going to be tough as we will have to compete against strong teams from Brazil, Germany and Spain.”
The Malaysians are now looking forward to garnering as many tournament points as they can with a view to a good draw in the Asian Games at Guangzhou in China.
“We will be playing in two tournaments in Indonesia, a tournament in China and another in Thailand to ensure we get as much points as we can before the Asian Games. We have been pairing up with each other since 2007, the same year we also won a tournament in Hyderabad,” they explained.
The Indian women, however, felt like fish out of water. “We play regular Volleyball, which is so different from Beach Volleyball,” Mahalakshmi said. “The foreign players on the other hand are groomed professionals of the game and that explains the huge gap.”
“It is a great experience to watch foreign players live on Indian soil, instead of seeing them on TV or on DVDs,” she added.
“Our girls need more practice and exposure to Beach Volleyball,” Rathi, the India coach said. “At present we shift regular Volleyballers to this format and this is not very conducive. If we focus on Beach Volleyball alone, I am sure we can do well in tournaments.”
Meanwhile, in the men’s event, three Indian pairs made it to the main draw by winning their qualifying matches. Mohan P and John M Pradeep played a tough three-set game against Raratabu Aisake and Elliot Qilu of Fiji.
The Indians fought hard to take the first set 23-21. The Fijians quickly regrouped to tie the set scores by winning the second at 21-14 pushing the match into a tie-breaker. Mohan and John, both 33 years old, played consistently to pip Raratabu and Elliot 15-11 to enter the main draw.
Results: Qualifiers: Women: Karla Borger and Britta Buthe (Ger) beat Sagari Gunasinghe and W W Sujeewa 21-12, 21-13. Heather Hughes and Michelle Moriaty (USA) beat Ana Maria Vidal Bouza and Maria Jose Corral Bouza (Spn) 21-14, 21-16, Joanna Papageorgiou and Christina Roubanis (Gre) beat Ashya Basam A Roselin J Christy (Ind) 21-5, 21-8. Shun Thing Beh and Teck Hua Luk (Mas) Issayeva Lyudmilla and Rakhmatulina Inna (Kaz) 23-21, 13-21, 15-9. Men: Shasi and Raju (Ind) beat Sara-Saravanan (Ind) 21-14, 21-13. Chong Long and Rafi (Mas) beat Keawwonsai and Prigbangkhem (Tha) 21-16, 21-11. Mohan and John (Ind) beat Raratabu-Drifters (Fij) 23-21, 14-21, 15-11. Siva and Dhamu (Ind) beat Ray and Michael (Hkg) 21-14, 21-7. R Naeini and R Raouf (Ira) beat Anurak and Cheamnithurakan (Tha) 21-9, 21-17. Perera and Rathnapala (SL) beat Karukhin Samoshkin (Rus) 21-18, 14-21, 17-15. P Farrokhi and A Salagh (Ira) beat Okasha and Atta (Egy) 21-17, 21-16.
