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PHOTO: P.V. SIVAKUMAR

Calling the shots Thailand’s Kamoltip Kulna and Yudaphuk Rong Ploy .

The increased number of teams meant a rise in the quality of the competition, with pairs coming from lands as far as New Zealand and Kazakisthan. Standing out were the ‘Twin Towers,’ of New Zealand, consisting of Anna Scarlet and Susan Blundell, both over 5’ 10” tall!

The relatively shorter sides from South East Asia, such as Thailand, Indonesia and China called the shots though.

For the record, Indonesia A clinched the men’s title and Thailand A, the women’s crown. The sand pits were a test of endurance and more so when they got wet after the showers. Progress across the court was at times pretty tardy, but that did not deter the players from effecting some acrobatic dives to retrieve a drop or shore up the defence in the back court.

The New Zealand men’s duo of Russell Watson and Greg Lindsay had seen temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius, but weren’t unduly perturbed by the possibility of having to play in conditions that exceeded that figure. The second-ranked Kiwi men’s team didn’t make much headway though in the final standings.

The tournament brought to the fore the combined efforts by a set of current and former players working for the cause of popularising the sport. V. Ravikanth Reddy, international and Arjuna awardee as president of the A.P. Beach Volleyball Players Club, assisted ably by A. Raj Kumar, organising secretary, Madhav, Kiran Reddy, Anwar Khalique, Mohd. Ghouse and former convener of the All-India Beach Volleyball Council, S. Ramnath. It signalled the arrival of the new wave of organisers, who lay stress on the efficient conduct of the meet.

Going by the appearances of the visiting players, they seemed to be having a good time, looked after well in every aspect of their visit. Language seemed to be no barrier as Indonesians chatted with the Chinese, the Thais with the Malaysians and so on. The spectators joined the fun too, some of them shaking a leg for a rain dance when the skies opened up. A quartet of blonde cheerleaders brought on the whistles and cat-calls too, as they pirouetted to the tunes of a local deejay and a live band.

The applause may have been muted for all the feats on the sand pits, but in all, Hyderabadis had a good time over the weekend, evidenced by the fairly large attendance and the electric atmosphere in the air.

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