RP belles lose charm vs world champions

DOHA — After wowing the crowd with their grit and charm Saturday, the RP beach volley pair of Diane Pascua and Heidi Ilustre failed to wield its magic as it rammed into a tall, talented Chinese pair of Xue Chen and of Xi Zhang and lost, 15-21, 18-21, Sunday night.

The Fil-Am pair scrambled past Kazakhstan, drawing inspiration from a big weekend crowd at the Sport City. They actually played a more consistent game against the vaunted Chinese duo but just couldn’t pull it through.

"It was a little smoother than when we beat Kazakhstan on Saturday, it was more consistent. It was good having the first-game nerves out of the way. It’s a pity we couldn’t do it for the fans."

But the Chinese, the reigning women’s world team champions, were not in the mood to play for the crowd, and later said it wasn’t that hard.

"It was not a hard game. There was not much tension. Our next match is against Japan. We haven’t planned anything in detail. We will be trying our best to win," said Chen.

Her partner, Zhang, said they could have even played better.

"It was okay. I hope the performance will be better in our next matches."

China’s women’s world team champions were the stars on the sand as the Doha 2006 beach volleyball competition entered its second day.

Tain Jia and Wang Jie, China’s other team and the Games’ top seed and defending champion, beat Malaysia’s Shun Thing and Teck Eng in straight sets, 21-10, 21-13.

"I was a bit nervous because it was the first match, and I wanted to win," said Jia afterwards, confident that they can retain their Busan 2002 title. "I feel very confident that I can do it again."

Japan’s Shinako Tanaka and Eiko Koizumi, bronze medalists in Busan, also won in straight sets, beating Thailand’s Yupa Phokongploy and Usa Tenpaksee, 21-13, 21-16.

Disappointed, Phokongploy said: "Japan did not win due to their own performance. We lost because there was misunderstanding between both of us when receiving the ball. We need more time to warm up due to the cold weather and we will try to improve in the air."