Pokhara, Nepal, December 7, 2019 – Sri Lanka ruled the roost in the 13th South Asian Games beach volleyball competition on the beautiful banks of Fewa Lake, with their men’s teams taking on Pakistan and their women’s pairings challenging hosts Nepal in the do-or-die semi-finals on Sunday morning.
The beach volleyball event, which made its 30th SAG debut here in Pokhara, will come to a close on Sunday when the semi-finals will be held in the morning, followed by the final showdowns in both men’s and women’s events in the afternoon.
In the men’s event, Sri Lanka stole the show to capture the top spots in Pool A and Pool B after completion of the pool round-robin preliminaries on Saturday.
Sri Lanka 2’s Indika Tiron/Jayan Sanuja emerged as the Pool A winners after claiming 8 points from four wins in a row, followed by Pakistan 1’s Khan Zasrnab/Khan Afaq with 7 points from 3 wins against one loss. Nepal 1’s Man Bahadur/Dil Bahadur Sunar came in third place, while Maldives 2 and Bangladesh 1 finished fourth and fifth places respectively.
Sri Lanka 1’s Asanka Pradeep/Ashen Kumara topped Pool B with 8 points from four straight wins, while Pakistan 2’s Razzaq Muhammad/Waseen Muhammad secured second place with 6 points from two wins against two losses. Maldives 1’s Adam Naseem/Mohammad Ali finished third place, with Nepal 2 and Bangladesh 2 in respective fourth and fifth places.
Only top four teams from each pool advanced to the men’s quarter-finals, with Pool A winners taking on Pool B fourth place and Pool A runners-up playing Pool B third place.
In the men’s semi-finals on Sunday morning, unbeaten Sri Lanka 2’s Indika Tiron/Jayan Sanuja, who spent only 30 minutes in thrashing Nepal 2’s Raju B.K./Sanju Shah 21-15 21-10 in the quarter-finals, will next go up against Pakistan 1’s Khan Zasrnab/Khan Afaq. The other semi-final clash sees Sri Lanka 1’s Asanka Pradeep/Ashen Kumara take on Pakistan 2’s Razzaq Muhammad/Waseen Muhammad. The two winning teams in the semi-finals will set up a final showdown in the afternoon.
It will be a Nepal-Sri Lanka semi-final clash in the women’s category. At the end of the pool round-robin preliminaries on Saturday, Sri Lanka 2’s Gedera Deepika/Madushani Weerasinghe led Pool A with 4 points from two straight wins, followed by Nepal 1 and Maldives 2.
Pool B was dominated by Sri Lanka 1’s Tharuka Lakshini/Dinesha Prasadani after claiming 4 points from two consecutive wins. Nepal 2 and Maldives 1 finished second and third places respectively.
With only top two teams from each Pool advancing to the cross semi-finals, Sri Lanka 2’s Gedera Deepika/Madushani Weerasinghe are due to test their mettle against Nepal 2’s Kopila Upreti/Manisha Chaudhary, with Sri Lanka 1’s Tharuka Lakshini/Dinesha Prasadani pitted against Nepal 1’s Binita Budhathoki/Nebika Chaudhary.
The two winning teams will battle it out for the women’s gold medal in the afternoon, followed by the awards presentation and closing.
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