NAGOYA, Japan, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) — Thailand’s Taravadee Naraphornrapat and Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee beat China’s Xia Xinyi and Yan Xu 2-1 on Friday to win the women’s beach volleyball gold medal at the Asian Games.
The victory gave Thailand its first Asian Games women’s beach volleyball title since 1998 and ended China’s run of six consecutive titles in the event.
Thailand took the first set 21-17 before China responded with a 21-13 win in the second. The teams were tied 5-5 in the decider before Thailand took control, winning 10 of the next 13 points to close out the match 15-8.
“For the whole year, I worked for beach volleyball. This is the time to go back and spend time with my family and just eat dinner with them,” Naraphornrapat said.
Xia was seeking her fourth Asian Games gold medal with a fourth different partner, but the Thai pair denied her bid by pulling away in the deciding set.
“This tournament exposed some of our problems, such as our lack of consistency on court and some roughness in our basic skills,” she said.
Earlier Friday, the Philippines’ Khylem Harl Progella and Sofiah Shanine Pagara came from behind to beat China’s Dong Jie and Cao Shuting 2-1 in the bronze-medal match, earning the Philippines its first Asian Games medal in beach volleyball.
The men’s beach volleyball final and bronze-medal match are scheduled for Saturday. ■