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Asian Games: Indonesia beats Kazakhstan 2-0 in women’s beach volleyball preliminary
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Jakabaring Sport City (JSC) in Palembang, South Sumatra will host various competitions such as sport climbing, soft tennis, beach volleyball, skateboarding, rowing, women's soccer and more. (JP/Jessicha Valentina)
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ndonesia's women’s beach volleyball team outplayed Kazakhstan, beating them 2-0 in a preliminary round match on Sunday at Jakabaring Sport City in Palembang, South Sumatra.
Duo Desi Ratnasari and Yokebed Purari Eka of Indonesia won both sets 21-10, 21-14 to defeat Kazakhstan’s Alina Rachenko and Yelizaveta Yeropkina. Each set finished in the 12th minute.
“Our target is to get through this group [round]. We played our best today,” Desi said after the match.
“We need to improve our serve and our defense,” the 20-year-old athlete said.
The Indonesian pair led from the start of the match, however several of their hits landed outside the court. Kazakhstan’s players looked overwhelmed in both sets, with Indonesia scoring even with weak attacks.
“We met [Rachenko and Yeropkina] in an Asia-Pacific competition so we pretty much know about their play,” said Desi.
In the second set, Kazakhstan quickly came up from 7 to 13, trying to catch up. The score almost leveled at 17-13 in favor of the home side, before Indonesia pulled away again to finish the second set at 21-14.
Desi and Yokebed spent a month training in Palembang before the Games.
The Indonesian duo played in pool C, along with players from Kazakhstan, Timor Leste, Thailand and Japan. Matches against Thailand and Japan are considered particularly tough, according to Desi.
“We are optimistic [that we can outplay Thailand and Japan], but our focus is on getting through this pool round,” Yokebed said.
In a separate game, Thailand beat Timor Leste 2-0. Indonesia will meet Japan on Tuesday and Thailand on Thursday.
“We have to improve our attack to be more powerful,” said Desi. (nkn)
