Chonburi, Thailand – Indonesia swept their matches, while the Vietnam needed the Golden Match to complete respective victories at the start of the men’s volleyball competition at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
In the afternoon session at Jomtien Beach, Indonesia took a 2-0 card over Laos in Pool B. First team Bintang/Sofyan beat M. Phithak/Chantaphone (LAO 1), 2-0 (21-8, 21-8). Later, Yosi/Danang (INA 2) completed the sweep with 2-0 (21-10, 21-12) over Phommachan/Chansabab (LAO 2).
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s victory on Friday afternoon looked like a much tougher mission to topple their opponents in Pool B. N.A. Tuan/L.H. Y (VIE 1) took the first match, 2-1 (13-21, 21-14, 15-10) against Rosales/Varga (PHI 1). The Philippines later bounced back as the second team Abdilla/Buytrago won the decider 2-1 (21-13, 16-21, 15-9) against T.V. Viet/Nguyen Lam Toi.
T.V. Viet/Nguyen Lam and Abdilla/Buytrago marched back to the sand courts for the Golden Match, with Vietnam winning 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 15-11).
With a total of seven teams, the competition follows a Pool Play format, with hosts Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia grouped in Pool A. Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Laos comprise Pool B. The top two teams in each pool cross over for the semifinals before heading to the medal matches scheduled on Friday, December 19.
As the beach volleyball programme in the SEA Games follows a country vs. country format, the podium opens up for more National Olympic Committees to earn a medal.