BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Top-seeded Phoebe Bell and Jessyka Ngauamo lived up to their status and won title at the Daegu one-star stop on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The young Australians did so in a particularly emphatic fashion, without dropping a single set along the way.
This is the first golden finish on the Tour for either member of the pair and the team’s third podium, after their 2018 bronze medals at the Langkawi one-star and the Nantong two-star.
In the warm Korean Sunday evening, the final was enjoyed by the packed stands at the centre court in Daegu, but it was quite a one-sided story. 21-year-old Bell and 22-year-old Ngauamo dominated on the court and at no point throughout the match did the Austrians pose any threat. The Aussies cruised to a speedy 2-0 (21-14, 21-15) victory to rejoice as first-time champs.
Kou and Liu stormed into the bronze medal match with a smashing 12-0 lead, which was a good indicator for their domination throughout the rest of the game against sixth-seeded Israelis Noy Chorin and Anita Deev. The team from Chinese Taipei did not face much resistance from their opposition and hammered out a 2-0 (21-8, 21-14) win.
Chorin and Deev were more competitive in their semifinal against the eventual gold medallists Bell and Ngauamo. In the first set they came back from a five-point deficit to almost catch up at 19-18, before giving away the last two rallies. In the second, the Israelis held up through 12-12, after which the Aussies broke away towards a 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) win.
