After being dumped by the United States in the semifinals, Tio Sentosa and his teammates succeeded in silencing Poland in a rubber set 21-13, 21-19 and 15-11 on Oct. 16. The host team Qatar, which stunned Poland at the semifinals, failed to fulfill the public’s expectations by losing to the US.

                Bambang Eko Suhartawan, the country’s men’s team coach, applauded the victory, saying that the result was achieved by the hard work shown by all team members.

                “I am very happy and proud of the fighting spirit of the team. They actually could beat Poland in two sets but the mental burden forced them to play three sets,” he said, as quoted by tempo.co.

Tio, who played as both defender and striker, could not hide his excitement when being presented the medal for Indonesia at the first world event that he participated in.

                “We are grateful for the support of the Indonesian supporters throughout the competition,” he added.

                The chef de mission for the Indonesian contingent at the event, Hellen Sarita de Lima, said the result was extraordinary amid the tight competition in the Games.

                Overall, Indonesia finished 31^st in the final medal standing at the first World Beach Games, sharing the place with Bulgaria, Hong Kong and Sweden. On the leaderboard, Spain came out on top of the medal tally with seven gold medals, one silver and two bronzes, followed by Brazil with five golds, four silver and three bronzes.

Meanwhile, Indonesian karateka Ahmad Zigi Zaresta Yuda's quest for glory came to an end as he bowed down to his opponent, Gakuji Tozaki of the US, at the men's individual kata category. Gajuki managed to collect 25.08 points and thus won a bronze medal while Ahmad gained 24.54.

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