The Hindu : Sport : Kiwi Twin Towers start as favourites

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Thursday, Apr 03, 2008
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Kiwi Twin Towers start as favourites

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Anna Scarlet and Susan Blundell are known as New Zealand’s Twin Towers. With each of them over 180 cms tall, the duo is the nation’s No. 1 ranked beach volleyball side and has made the finals of the country-wide series played at Wellington, Mt. Maunganui and Auckland in the not too distant past.

The twosome will be a team to watch at the $40,000 Asian beach volleyball championships that gets under way on Thursday, at Necklace Road, that skirts the historic Hussain Sagar. Twenty teams in the men’s section and 18 in the women’s, representing nine nations, are in the fray. India will field four and five teams in the men’s and women’s competitions respectively.

Among the men will be the combine of Russell Watson and Greg Lindsay, ranked second in New Zealand. Into 2008, the pair lost in the final of the New Zealand Open at Ohope beach to American volleyball pro tour players Paul Baxter and Adams. Earlier in the semifinals, the Kiwi pair had defeated Dutchmen Bart Bolsterlee and Timko Lokerse 22-20, 16-21, 15-13.

Addressing a press conference here, international and Arjuna awardee V. Ravikanth Reddy said the winning duos in both the men’s and women’s fields would be richer by $5,000 each, with matches scheduled in morning and evening sessions.

The practice sessions have drawn goodly crowds, encouraging the organisers to introduce tickets priced at Rs. 200 and 400. Three floodlit courts, with temporary stands to accommodate 3000, are also in place at the venue.

Participating countries: Men: China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kazakhistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, India (Pradeep and Mohan; P.P. Sunil Kumar and K.I. Yousuf; Poul Joseph and V. Manu; S. Ramamoorty and D. Nixon; P. Dhanujaya Rao and P. Ravinder Reddy).

Women: China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India (P. Swetha Reddy and K. Pavithra; Y. Kanaka Mahalakshmi and K. Srilatha; Anitha and Ranjini; Christy Rosaline and Nadhiya).

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