Men's beach volleyball continues despite wet sand

On a day when beach volleyball players had to compete against heavy rain and strong winds as well as opponents desperate to remain in the competition, four more teams were eliminated from the men's beach volleyball tournament at Sport City on Thursday 7 December.

In the third match of the day, the Filipino pairing of Parley Tupaz and Rhovul Verayo were leading India's John Pradeep and Mohan Poothathan 14-11 in the first set of their second round of the second-chance bracket match when play was suspended due to heavy rain.

After a delay of over 30 minutes the match resumed and the Filipinos took the first set 21-19. Tupaz and Verayo then led 7-3 in the second set, only for the Indian team to stage a remarkable comeback to win the set 21-19, before winning the decider 15-12. They will now face Japan's Katsuhiro Shiratori and Kentaro Asahi in their next match.

"It was very cold and it's the first time we've played in rain like this, so we were worried before the game," said Tupaz after the match. His partner Verayo added: "We led 7-3 in the second set and then it was 7-7. Sometimes you have to make your own luck and sometimes spikes just go out.
"Before we came here the weather was hot in the Philippines, around 36 degrees, but here it's 14 degrees and as you jump to spike you get rain in your eyes."

The second Indian team, Jameeluddin Mohammed and Shashidhar Tilkam, did not fare so well in their match, going down in straight sets to Koung Sopheap and Som Chamanp of Cambodia 21-19, 22-20. The Cambodian duo next face Kazakhstan's Pavel Saulko and Pavel Zabuslayev.

After their defeat India's Mohammed said: "We made many silly mistakes. It was a very easy match, but our decisions were not good at all and it was also bad luck. The last moment of the match was very crucial. Whoever makes it at the end is the king.

"At the last moment we were told to come to the Asian Games so we only got one morning practice in Chennai. I have been playing for the past 15 years and, although I'm not fit enough, it was only my experience at the age of 37 which helped me."

Meanwhile, his partner Tilkam held his head in his hands at match point and remarked: "If you were in my place what would you be doing, knowing that you are losing? So it's natural. We were told to come here at the 11th hour and at our own risk, so now I will go shopping and buy a lot of gold from here."

Earlier in the afternoon Qatar's hopes of a beach volleyball medal on home sand came to an end when Mohammed Anber and Mohammed Salem were eliminated 2-1. The Qatari duo went down 23-21, 18-21, 9-15 to Sri Lanka's Dhammika Rohan Silva and Mahamalage Jude Mahesh Perera.

In the day's other match, Oman's Khalifa Al Jabri and Badar Al Subhi also came from a set down to upset the Bahraini 12th seeds Yunes Hasan Abbas Parwees and Hasan Aqeel Hasan Ahmed Qarqoor, 19-21, 21-17, 15-12.

The Omanis will now meet Indonesia's Andy Aridiansyam and Koko Prasetyo Darkuncoro in the next round as the third round of the second-chance bracket takes place on Friday, 8 December.

By 15th Asian Games, Doha 2006