Neither the men’s nor women’s Indian teams made a firm impact in the league stage of the Asia Pacific under-21 beach volleyball championship, which commenced on the sands of Marina here on Friday.
The No.1 Indian women’s duo of R. Deepika and S. Eshwari did show a glimpse of its potential pretty early, but didn’t have the nerve to fight on as it lost to Japan-2 (Chiaki & Riha) 21-11, 21-16 in a Group ‘A’ match.
P. Nivya and S. Banupriya (India-2) lost 21-11, 22-20 to Indonesia and 21-9, 21-12 to Kazakhstan in their league (Group ‘B’) matches.
The men’s team didn’t fare any better. The top pair of Yogaraj and Rajkumar (in Group ‘B’) bowed out to Oman-2 (Adam & Faisal) 28-26, 21-14.
Strong challenge
In the evening session, the Kazakhstan men’s pair of Victor Pestov & Kirill Gurin quelled a strong challenge from the Indian pair of Aaron Pereira and Javid Khan 21-19, 21-14 in a Group ‘D’ tie.
Meanwhile, Iran — fielding two teams in men — couldn’t come to India due to visa problems.
The results (league matches):
Men: Oman-2 (Adam Aljalabdubi & Faisal Al Hashmi) bt India-1 (Yogaraj & Rajkumar) 28-26, 21-12; Australia (Tomas Hodges & Malachi Murch) bt Turkmenstan-1 (Mekan Massarov & Begli Myratgeldivev) 21-4, 21-13; Japan-1 (Kai Kurokawa & Yuto Iwashita) bt Turkmenistan-2 (Ezizmyrat Gayipov & Agageldi Chariyev) 21-7, 21-1; Kazakhstan-2 (Viktor Pestov & Kirill Gurin) bt India-3 (Aaron Pereira & Javid Khan Samsu) 21-19, 21-14.
Women: Kazakhstan (Bakhtygul Samalikova & Lyubov Bogatu) bt India-2 (P. Nivya & S. Banupriya) 21-9, 21-12; Japan-2 (Chiaki Nakamaru & Riha Nakada) bt India-1 (R. Deepika & S. Eshwari) 21-11, 21-16; Australia (Mariafe Artacho & Jessyka Ngauamo) bt India-3 (Anila Savio & V. Aswathi) 21-8, 21-8; Indonesia (Nanda Ragillia & Maria Dwining Tyas) bt India-2 (P. Nivya & S. Banupriya) 21-11, 22-20; Kazakhstan (Bakhtygul Samalikova & Lyubov Bogatu) bt India-4 (V. Anusha & K. Athira) 21-4, 21-7.
Japan-1 (Chiyo Suzuki & Satono Ishitsubo) bt Indonesia (Nanda Ragillia & Maria Dwinning Tyas) 21-18, 23-21; Japan-1 (Chiyo Suzuki & Satono Ishitsubo) bt India-2 (P. Nivya & S. Banupriya) 21-18, 21-12; Indonesia (Nanda Ragillia & Maria Dwining Tyas) bt India-4 (V. Anusha & K. Athira) 21-16, 21-7.
