Timy, Ike fail to reach final at Bali Volley

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 05/07/2006 11:16 AM

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Indonesia was denied a title in the women's division of the LA Menthol Beach Volleyball Asia Pacific tournament after Ni Putu Timy Yudhani and Ike Prasetyowati lost in the semifinals at Kuta beach here on Saturday.

Timy and Ike went down to Radarong Julalak and Pittawan Wongchaiya of Thailand 21-17, 21-18. Timy blamed the defeat on a lack of time to get in tune with each other before the tournament.

Timy turned to Ike after her regular partner, Devota Rahawarin, could not make it to the tournament due to training with the Army.

""We hardly had time to train together (with Ike). Consequently, we failed to establish good teamwork against a good team, which they are,"" said Timy, who with Devota won last year's Indonesia Open.

Julalak and Wongchaiya will face Malaysia's sisters Luk Teck Eng and Luk Teck Hua, who pulled out a surprising 14-21, 21-9, 16-14 win over Nonglak Khosoongnoen and Supanneee Doksantia of Thailand.

""We used attacking serves in the second game. We forced them into making bad returns on the first ball,"" the elder Hua said.

Despite their upset win, the Malaysian pair seemed pessimistic about the final, which will be their second meeting with Julalak and Wongchaiya in the tournament. They were paired in Pool A, in which the Thais triumphed. Hua said they had also beaten them two years ago in their only other match.

""They are good at defense... quick at covering the area,"" she said.

Hua's assessment proved right on Saturday with Khosoongnoen and Doksantia prevailing on offense as well as defense against Timy and Ike.

In the initial stages of the match, the battle was close, with the two sides taking the lead alternately. However, Timy looked overloaded in her role, causing the Indonesian pair to crack in the later stages of the game despite strong support from the home crowd.

When holding a serve, Timy had to rush immediately from the back line to the front to stand by for a block as well. That eroded her stamina.

""I'm basically a defender. But you see I had to cover the net as well. That made me exhausted,"" Timy said.

In the men's division, favorites Jason Lockhead and Kirk Pitman of New Zealand, winners in Thailand, brushed aside Zheng Hong Yong and Liu Wei of China 21-14, 21-19.

They face Agus Salim and Supriadi in the final. The Indonesian pair defeated compatriots Andy Ardiansyah and Koko Prasetyo 21-15, 18-21, 15-12.

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