The script followed a familiar line as the Indian teams fought hard and lost, similar to the league matches on Friday.
The quarterfinals of the Thanthi TV Asia-Pacific under-21 beach volleyball championship on the sands of Marina saw six teams — three from each section — bite the dust. The last eight clashes truly exposed the wide gulf between India and the foreign teams.
India’s top pairs — Rajkumar and Yogaraj and S. Eshwari and R. Deepika — bowed out in contrasting fashion. The former pair even raised visions of a rare Indian win as Yogaraj entertained the crowd with deft placements and exquisite drops. However, the Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ashifya and Rendy Verdan proved superior in the deciding set as it won 15-21, 21-17, 15-9.
The most entertaining match of the day was the women’s quarterfinal between Indonesia and Japan-2. Nanda Ragillia and Maria Dwining Tyas of Indonesia prevailed over the Japanese duo of Chiaki Nakamaru-Riha Nakada 18-21, 21-17, 15-13. At 13-each in the final set, Maria’s sliced smash gave Indonesia a match point. And when Chiaki’s smash found the net, the Indonesians’ happiness knew no bounds.
The results (quarterfinals):
Men: Indonesia-1 (Mohammad Ashfiya-Rendy Verdan) bt India-1 (Rajkumar-Yogaraj) 15-21, 21-17, 15-9; Kazakhstan-2 (Viktor Pestov-Kirill Gurin) bt India-3 (Aaron Pereira-Javid Khan Samsu) 21-18, 21-15; Kazakhstan-1 (Vladislav Pustynnikov-Sergey Bogatu) bt India-2 (Shankar Vaspari-Mahesh Kumar Chakra) 21-12, 21-10; Australia (Tomas Hodges-Malachi Murchi) bt Oman-1 (Faisal Alshezawi-Ahmad Albalushi) 21-15, 21-16.
Women: Australia (Mariafe Artacho-Jessyka Ngauamo) bt India-4 (V. Anusha-K. Athirai) 21-11, 21-8; Indonesia (Nanda Ragillia-Maria Dwining Tyas) bt Japan-2 (Chiaki Nakamaru-Riha Nakada) 18-21, 21-17, 15-13; Kazakhstan-1 (Bakhtygul Samalikova-Lyubov Bogatu) bt India-1 (R. Deepika-S. Eshwari) 21-11, 21-10; Japan-1 (Chiyo Suzuki-Satono Ishitsubo) bt India-3 (Anila Savio-V. Ashwathi) 21-10, 21-11.
