AS HOSTS and the first ones to take to the courts on Siloso Beach, Singapore duo Melvin Goh and Qing Shan were overcome by nerves in the opening match of the Asian Youth Games beach volleyball competition.

They lost their opening match to Sri Lanka 17-21, 14-21 on Wednesday.

Speaking after the match, Melvin, 17, said: "It was our first match and also the first match of the tournament, so we were not settled down and could not perform to our usual standards. We could've matched the Sri Lankans in terms of standard of play, but they were the more consistent pair today.'

Coach Teo Chiek Shan also said his charges did not play to their full potential. He added: 'Nerves got the better of them and they looked lost at time.'

The Singapore pairing, however, made up for their loss in an afternoon match against Japan. They took the tie in straight sets, winning 21-14, 21-18.

Said 17-year-old Qing Shan: 'We calmed down a lot more after our first match. The plan going into this game was to direct the ball away from Japan's taller player.'

In the girls' competition, Singapore's Dorita Peng and Tan Yi Ting also posted a convincing victory 21-13, 21-7 against Mongolia.

Their initial fears of a team they had not heard of or seen before vanished quickly, as the Singapore duo quickly took control.

Said Dorita, 17: 'Before today we were pretty nervous about meeting the Mongolians, but we gained confidence when we started to take the lead.'

Singapore's boys play Saudi Arabia on Thursday while the girls play Kyrgyzstan.