AYG Beach Volleyball: Singapore girls triumph over Mongolia in straight sets

Story by Desiray Tay/Red Sports. Pictures by Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

Siloso Beach, Wednesday, July 1 2009 – Singapore Asian Youth Games (AYG) Beach Volleyball girls’ team of Dorita Peng and Tan Yiting got off to an ideal start emerging victorious over Mongolia with scores of 21-13, 21-7.

Singapore had the opening serve but Mongolia seized the first point with the first spike of the match. The game quickly picked up with both sides fired up as they fought to grab the lead.

The Mongolian duo of Namuun and Nomio looked promising at first, but they soon gave way as it became apparent that Singapore was the stronger side.

Mongolia’s Namuun, in particular, struggled to create the essential counter-attack chances to turn the game around for her team.

Team work was clearly exemplified by Dorita and Yi Ting, who maintained constant communication on the court.

“Communication is the key to winning in a sport such as this,” said 16-year-old Dorita of Presbyterian High School.

The Singaporean girls were often heard shouting in Chinese or English to claim possession or to initiate and set up their attacks, while the Mongolians were relatively quiet.

Though the Singaporeans were proclaiming their triumphs in shouts and yells whenever they unleashed a beautiful spike or claimed a point over their counterparts, that did not intimidate the Mongolians, who refused to back down without a fight.

Mongolia’s Nomio was especially determined to close the gap, nearly crashing into the boards lining the courts on one occasion.

There were several long and exciting rallys in the game that held the spectators in suspense but the Mongolians were forced on the defense most of the time.

Though the Mongolians managed to block Singapore’s attacks, they struggled to launch any counter-attacks and could only rely on the hosts’ mistakes to gain points and even when they had the chance to attack, their spikes were often stopped by the net.

Dorita and Yi Ting, on the other hand, were able to overcome the initial jitters at the start of the match to remain consistent in their attacks throughout the rest of the match.

Dorita confessed, “We were nervous at the first few points but as we took the lead, the game turned out to be easier than we thought.”