Story and pictures by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.
Thailand’s Kambut Prateep spikes against China’s Lu Yuanyuan in a ‘David vs Goliath’ semi-final match. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Siloso Beach, Sentosa, Saturday, July 4, 2009 - The girls of Thailand and Kazakhstan are through to the final of the Asian Youth Games (AYG) Beach Volleyball competition after ousting China and Indonesia respectively in two epic semi-finals.
Thailand’s duo of Yansuwan Aunchalee and Kambut Prateep overcame their Chinese opponents, Chen Chunxia and Lu Yuanyuan, in a ‘David vs Goliath’ match on centre court.
The Thais had initially gone down to the Chinese in the first set, but a heroic effort in the second set saw them fighting tooth-and-nail to take the match, and a spot in the final, with scores of 17-21, 21-17, 15-12.
Kazakhstan, on the other hand, swept past Indonesia in straight games 21-18, 21-0 to face-off Thailand in the final.
The Indonesia’s pair of Dhita Yuliana and Dhanis Evlina gave Kazakhstan’s Samalikova Bakhtygul and Bogatu Lyubov a hard time in the first game, as their unexpected shots took the latter by surprise.
But the sleeping giant in the Kazakhstanis seemed to be suddenly awakened in the second game to present Indonesia with a duck, 21-0.
Thailand will play Kazakhstan in the final on Sunday 2pm, while China will take on Indonesia at 10am for the bronze.
Yansuwan Aunchalee bumps a ball to Kambut. The Thai girls fought tooth-and-nail to take the match, and a spot in the final, with scores of 17-21, 21-17, 15-12. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Yuanyuan spikes past her Thai blocker. Towards the end of the second set, the Chinese were finding it difficult to score against the Thais as they themselves were committing several faults. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Yuanyuan dived to rescue a shot from Chen Chunxia as the ‘Giants’ of the match started to crumble… (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
…and moments of celebration were increasingly lesser… (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
…as the Chinese pair seemed to have loss their rhythm… (Photo 6 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
…giving Thailand’s Prateep a boost of confidence as she takes each serve. (Photo 7 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Chunxia signals to Yuanyuan on their serve. (Photo 8 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Prateep and Aunchalee celebrated after every rally, with Aunchalee encouraging Prateep on when the latter lost a point. (Photo 9 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
China’s determination to win was not enough to overcome the Thais as they made several unforced errors to bequeath the Thais the win. (Photo 10 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Prateep and Aunchalee rejoice at their win… (Photo 11 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
…customarily, the Thais will give each other a ‘wai’ sign as a sign of respect for each other. (Photo 12 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
On the other court, the Indonesian pair of Dhita Yuliana and Dhanis Evlina rattled Kazakhstan in the first set as their unpredictable shots caught the latter by surprise. (Photo 13 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Dhita spikes while Bogatu Lyubov blocks. Throughout the match, there was hardly any challenges at the net as blockers from both sides often retreated back to assist in the receive. (Photo 14 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Kazakhstan’s Bogatu Lyubov just kept piling on the attacks as she spikes while Indonesia’s Dhita blocks. (Photo 15 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
The Kazakhstan pair was not going to let the Indonesians hinder their path to the final as they gave their opponents a duck in the second set, 21-0. Their 21-18, 21-0 victory will set them up for the final against Thailand. (Photo 16 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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