BEACH VOLL: Australia has beaten some of the strongest beach volleyball teams in Asia to win both the men’s and women’s gold medals at the Pak Bara Open in Thailand.
The Australian men’s team of Chris McHugh and Isaac Kapa followed up their gold medal at this month’s Asian Championships at Manly Beach with a hard-fought three sets win over Kazakhstan’s Alexey Sidorenko and Alexandr Dyachenko.
It was a much easier affair for Nikki Laird and Mariafe Artacho del Solar, who did not drop a set for the entire tournament, before beating Kazakhstan’s Tatyana Mashkova and Irina Tsimbalova 21-16, 21-16 in the final.
Laird and del Solar finished runners up at this month’s Asian Championships.
The results are important for Australia ahead of the Asian Olympic qualifiers in June.
“We have been working consistently hard on our game all summer, and feel like things are starting to click a lot better for us now, for sure,” McHugh said.
“We continue to keep driving our game to new levels in pursuit of an Olympic berth for Australia. All games against Asian teams are important, not only for us but for all of the men’s Volleyroos squad as we pursue that Olympic spot.
“We are certainly developing a strong culture within the Volleyroos squad going into June.”
Australia also picked up a bronze medal in Thailand, with Damien Schumann and Joshua Court fighting back from one set down to beat Qatar’s Julio and Ahmed Tijan 18-21, 21-18, 15-10.
Kapa and McHugh’s gold medal match was a torrid affair lasting more than one hour, with the Australian top seeds also dropping the opening set before clawing their way back to win 19-21, 21-17, 19-17.
“It’s always good to win any tournament, especially with some high quality international teams present,” McHugh said.
“It was a tough tournament all round, playing in hot humid conditions, and the final was no exception, a big three-set battle against a high-quality Kazakhstan team.”
All three Australian teams will be hoping to carry their form into the remaining Asian tour, before returning to Australia in June to contest the Asian Olympic qualifiers.
Ross Solly for Volleyball Australia
