| By May Chen | ||
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Prateep Kambut (left) and Aunchalee Yansuwan sending the Thais on their way by clinching the girls' title 21-14, 21-12. Teammate Thosapol Puangprasert then teamed up with Warut Prasanok to complete the sweep. -- ST PHOTOS: LIM SIN THAI |
JUST two months - that is how long Thailand's Prateep Kambut and Aunchalee Yansuwan have known each other.
Unfamiliarity, however, was never a problem at Sentosa's Siloso Beach yesterday.
The Thai pair trounced Kazakhstan's Lyubov Bogatu and Bakhtygul Samalikova 21-14, 21-12 in half an hour to win the Asian Youth Games girls' gold, and set up a clean sweep of the beach volleyball titles.
Their male teammates Warut Prasanok and Thosapol Puangprasert, both also 17 and recently-formed, went on to beat Kazakhstan 21-19, 21-10.
Not only did the Thai boys have to face more experienced opponents - the Kazakhs have at least three years of playing experience - they also had a height disadvantage.
Even at 1.8m and 1.85m respectively, Thosapol and Warut stood a head shorter than their Kazakh counterparts Sergey Bogatu and Vladislav Pustynnikov.
But where the Thais fell short, they made up with skill and strategy.
Said boys' team coach Prayoon Rungruang: 'The Kazakhs may be taller, but their height hampers their movement.
'They are not very quick, so we used that to our advantage.
'The plan was to direct the ball onto the empty court.'
Thailand's girls' team coach Petch Putsorn also never doubted his charges' ability.
He said: 'They may be a new team, but they've been training together every day and have built up good rapport.'
Thailand, boosted by the cheers of the 200-strong crowd, enjoyed a homeground-like atmosphere.
Indeed, all eyes were on Prateep and Aunchalee after they pulled off an upset against pre-tournament favourites China, coming back from one set down to book their berth in the final.
Still, they remained cautious of the Kazakhs, whom they also beat in a Vietnam competition in May.
Said Aunchalee: 'The Kazakhs are very good in their serving, but we told ourselves to be calm, take it easy and just enjoy the match.'
Both the boys' and girls' team kept a firm stranglehold on their leads from start to end.
The Thai boys were especially dominant, showing why they were the only pair to reach the final unbeaten.
It did not take long for them to break their rivals' spirit.
Said Vladislav, 16: 'We could not recover after we lost the first set.'
Their body language told it all - Sergey was even seen burying his head in despair at one point.
Bakhtygul admitted: 'We just did not play as a side today. We're disappointed that we did not win, but the Thais were the better team.'
The Kazakhs have vowed to come back stronger at next year's Youth Olympic Games, which Singapore will also stage.
'We will win it,' Vladislav promised.
In earlier matches, Indonesia beat Yemen 21-16, 21-17 to take the boys' bronze medal.
In the girls' third-place match, China beat Indonesia 21-7, 21-18.
'We told ourselves to be calm, take it easy and just enjoy the match.'
AUNCHALEE YANSUWAN, who with Prateep Kambut, won the gold medal
