The Hindu : Sport / Volleyball : Feitosa and Correa emerge triumphant

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Monday, Jul 21, 2008
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Feitosa and Correa emerge triumphant

Karthik Krishnaswamy

Sannok and Tenpaksee prevail in an all-Thai women’s final

— Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

THE WINNERS: The men’s and women’s champions with their trophies.

Chennai: Crowd favourites Klepper Feitosa and Luizao Correa from Brazil won a tooth-and-nail three-setter against the gallant Italian pair of Andrea Tomatis and Ivan Zaytsev 21-19, 19-21, 15-12 in the final of the BSNL-FIVB Chennai Challenger beach volleyball championships on Sunday.

The first set could easily have gone the Italians’ way, had Zaytsev’s serve not gone awry, allowing the Brazilians to close the gap. Tomatis lorded over the second set, winning his battle at the net against Correa, directing his smashes well away from the Brazilian.

Correa was ice-cool in the semifinals, complementing Feitosa’s fiery gestures and the crowd’s roars of approval. The facade crumbled in the final, however, as he matched his burly partner all the way with the fist-pumps and chest-thumps.

The pendulum continued to swing through the third set, as Zaytsev brought his stinging spikes back out of the kitbag. Correa made two crucial, successive blocks to take it to 10-9, and then Feitosa got lucky with a net-touch call against the Italians the next point, after he had sent his smash way out.

Arms outstretched, Correa soared off the court as Tomatis failed to handle another of his blocks and Feitosa, delirious with joy, threw his shirt up into the southern gallery.

In the all-Thai women’s final, Jarunee Sannok and Usa Tenpaksee beat Kamoltip Kulna and Yupa Phokongploy 21-12, 18-21, 15-8.

The first setwas won comfortably by Sannok and Tenpaksee — the latter showing delightful touch at the net. As the haze cleared, Kulna and Phokongploy hit back strongly, the shorter Kulna perfectly executing a series of smashes to help the pair pull away from 15-all and eventually win the set.

Stung by the momentum reversal, Sannok and Tenpaksee took their game up a notch in the third set, and settled the tie.

The results: Men: Final: Klepper Feitosa & Luizao Correa (Bra) bt Andrea Tomatis & Ivan Zaytsev (Ita) 21-19, 19-21, 15-12. Third place play-off: Kruger & Simek (Can) w/o Dipierro & van Zweiten (USA).

Women: Final: Jarunee Sannok & Usa Tenpaksee (Tha) bt Kamoltip Kulna & Yupa Phokongploy (Tha) 21-12, 18-21, 15-8. Third place play-off: Gschweidel & Hansel (Aut) bt Zur & Rodriguez (Isr) 21-14, 21-13.

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