Surat: Top seeded pairing of T Naresh and M Krishnam Raju (AP 1) were in for a shock as the men’s champion of National Games 2015 (Kerala) faced a tough defeat at the hands of young pair of Aaron Periera and Rama Dhawasker (Goa 1) on the second day of the league stage of beach volleyball at Dumas beach in Surat.
In a thrilling encounter, Rama and Aaron were off to a good start and won the first set 21-19.
AP 1’s Naresh and Krishnam, as expected, came back in the second set but Goa pair of Rama and Aaron held on to their nerves and the lead to pip the top seeds 22-20 in the second set and close the tie in two sets.
Rama said that their coaches’ guidance regarding playing with the wind played a crucial role in their emphatic win over the most experienced pair of the tournament.
“It was a tough match. They are very senior players and have played many international matches. We are happy to pull this one off,” said Rama, who along with Aaron are fresh from their Thailand sojourn where they took part in the Asian Beach Volleyball Championship.
Gujarat’s Nitin and Sarvesh Nayak registered an easy 21-10, 21-5 victory over UP’s Ishpreet Singh and Ujjwal Singh.
Women’s top seeded pairing of P Srikruti and V Aishwarya of Telengana 1 too had an easy outing against Neethu and Anamika of Kerala 1.
League matches results:
Men’s:
Rama Dhawasker/Aaron Periera (GOA1) bt T.Naresh/Niche.Krishnam Raju (AP1) 2-0 (21-19, 22-20);
P.Krishna Chaitanya/Mahesh(TEL1) bt Bibek Palai/Sunil Kumar Das (ODI) 2-0 (21-19,21-4); Vikram
Vatkar/Malek Jehan (GUJ2) bt Ispreet Singh/Ujjwal Singh(UP) 2-0 (21-10,21-5); Divya Sai/K.Manikanta Raju
(AP2) bt Murali/Jegan(PDY1) 2-0 (21-13,21-16); Aashish/Ayan (RAJ2) bt Raheem/Sethu (KER1) 2-0 (21-0,21-0)
Women’s:
S.Srilakshmi Lavanya/ M.Lalitha Devi (AP2) bt Muskan/Naina (DEL) 2-0 (21-7,21-11);
M.Akshitha/M.Sumalatha (TEL2) bt Narmadha/N.Kavipriya (PDY2) 2-0 (21-17,21-18); Priyanka/Laxmi
((RAJ2) bt Zilla/Srilakshmi (KER2) 2-0 (21-15,21-16); V.Sasikala/A.Kanimozhi (PDY) bt Ritu Gowda/Ankita
(MAH) 2-0 (21-9,21-6); P.Srikruti/V.Aishwarya(TEL1) bt Anamika/Meethu(KER1) 2-0 (21-7,21-11)
