Petrokimia grabs ticket to final four

Wahyoe Boediwardhana ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Malang, East Java   |  Sun, 04/06/2008 10:45 AM  |  Sports

Gresik Petrokimia chalked up a 3-2 win over Jakarta Popsivo Polwan to clinch a last-four round robin ticket in the women's division of the Sampoerna Hijau Proliga Indoor Volleyball 2008 tournament at Ken Arok Sports Center in Malang, East Java, on Saturday.

Petrokimia manager Bahrun Rosyid said he was happy his team had clinched a final-four spot, and cited their commitment to strategy as a key factor for their easy 25-14 domination of the first game.

However, he said over-confidence had nearly wrecked their campaign in the second game, which Popsivo claimed 25-20.

"In the second game, the girls seemed to rush the match, trying to bring it to an immediate end, which caused them to stutter," he said.

Popsivo assistant coach Dadang Sudrajat said his team was able to change its fortunes after the first game by changing strategy, but despite keeping their opponents under pressure Petrokimia won a tight third game 25-21.

Petrokimia coach Qi Li Xia mixed up his strategy by moving two of his Chinese attacking players into defense, leading to a 25-21 victory in the fourth game, and they went on to seal the match in the fifth game, which they won 15-10.

"In the fifth game, Petrokimia players were back on form while ours fell off a little," Dadang said.

Dadang congratulated Petrkimia for placing in the final four round robin, to be held in Bandung, and promised that his players would continue to fight with spirit in the tournament despite the impossibility of progressing further.

The final is to be held in Jakarta.

In the men's division, Surabaya Samator moved closer to securing a ticket to the next round after beating BNI Taplus 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 18-25, 27-25). It was the East Java side's second victory over BNI following their first meeting in Bogor.

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