The host nation also looks set to battle it out for the men’s title against Iran
Bangkok, Thailand, February 19, 2022 – With all Sri Lankans setting up the women’s final showdown, at least one gold medal is within the host nation’s reach in the 1st Central Asian Volleyball Association (CAVA) Beach Volleyball Championship for the 75th Independence Cup on Beach Park Negombo.
A large number of local enthusiasts turned up at the Negombo Beach on Saturday to watch the inaugural competition. Sri Lanka Minister of Youth and Sports Hon. Namal Rajapaksa attended as guest of honour to watch the thrilling match between Iran and Sri Lanka.
In the women’s event, Sri Lankan top seeds Deepika Bandara/Dinesha Prasadani continued their unbeaten run in the three-day competition. After a 2-0 rout of teammates Shehani/Jayawardana on the first day, Deepika/Dinesha captured another scintillating 2-0 (21-13, 21-9) win against Maldivians Azuma/Majidha on Saturday.
Two wins on the trot not only put Deepika/Dinesha on the top of Pool A, but also handed the Sri Lankans a slot in the afternoon semifinals, where they were set to take on another Maldivian pairing, third seeds Rudhaina/Nazima, who finished second in Pool B. The match turned out to be a one-way traffic as Deepika/Dinesha still performed superbly to mercilessly crush the Maldivians 21-10, 21-8 in 30 minutes.
Following their exceptional win, the Sri Lankans advanced to the Sunday’s final showdown, where they are set to take on teammates Shehani/Jayawardana, the rivals they had already beaten in the group round-robin preliminaries.
Shehani/Jayawardana, who had mixed fortunes with one win against one loss to Deepika/Dinesha on Friday, finished second in Pool A for a place in the semifinals, where they came back from the first-set down 12-21 to beat Pool B winners and second seeds Chathurika/Hashini Malsha in the next two sets 22-20, 15-12 in the all-Sri Lankans clash.
With Deepika/Dinesha setting up a final showdown with Shehani/Jayawardana, the host nation has already guaranteed one gold and one silver in the women’s event.
Sri Lankans Chathurika/Hashina will take on Maldivians Rudhaina/Nazima in the Sunday’s third-place playoff match for the bronze medal.
Meanwhile, two pairs each from hosts Sri Lanka and Iran powered their ways to the Sunday men’s semifinals, with S. Shekar/Aro taking on Ali/Mahdi in the all-Iranians affair and Tiron/Ashen pitted against Anjana Sandun in the all-Sri Lankans battle.
As a result, the Sunday’s final clash will see Sri Lanka and Iran fight for the gold medal for sure.
Iranian fourth seeds Ali/Mahdi had already won four matches in a row in the group round-robin preliminaries to top Pool A and Sri Lankans Tiron/Ashen finished second in the Pool.
Sixth seeds Anjana/Sandun made amends for the host nation to capture the top spot in Pool B with four consecutive wins, while Iranian second seeds S. Shekar/Aro claimed three wins against one loss to come in second place in the Pool.
Iranians Ali/Mahdi, fresh from beating Pakistanis Zaheer/Haidar 2-0 and Maldivians Ahmed/Ali 2-1 on their first two matches on Friday, went on their brilliant form to clinch two more wins in a row the following day. The Iranians on Saturday spent exhausting 42 minutes to pull off a stunning 2-0 (23-21, 21-15) win against top seeds Tiron/Ashen, the high hopes of the host nation, before seeing off Uzbekistan’s Akhtamov S./Murodillaev 2-0 (21-8, 26-24) to top Pool A as expected.
At the same time, Anjana/Sandun also bursted into their prominence in the inaugural tournament. Despite being sixth seeds, the Sri Lankans proved well they are one of the strong teams to be reckoned with in the double-gender championship.
On Friday, Anjana/Sandun got off to a good start in the championship with a hard-fought 2-0 (21-16, 31-29) win against Iranian second seeds S.Shekar/Aro. They repeated the feat with second win against Maldives’ Ismail/Adam in a hotly-contested battle 19-21, 21-19, 15-12 in 48 minutes.
The Sri Lankans marched on their invincibility as they managed to beat third seeds and teammates Nalin/Malintha Yapa 21-15, 21-13 on Saturday and took their second win on the same day and four wins in a row following their 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) triumph against Pakistan’s Mubashir/Abu Zar.
On Sunday, the final day of the inaugural CAVA Beach Volleyball Championship on Beach Park Negombo, the two men’s semifinal matches will be held in the morning, while the third-place playoff match will take place at 4pm local time and the men’s final showdown at 8pm.
The women’s third-place playoff encounter between Sri Lankans Chathurika/Hashini and Maldivians Rudhaina/Nazima will be organised at 5pm, with the all-Sri Lankans final clash between Deepika/Dinesha and Shehani/Jayawardana being held at 7pm.
WOMEN’S RESULTS
WOMEN’S GROUP STANDING
WOMEN’S MAIN DRAW
MEN’S RESULTS
MEN’S GROUP STANDING
MEN’S MAIN DRAW
Related links of AVC
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: www.twitter.com/AsianVolleyball
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation