World champs win in Phuket

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

PHUKET : World beach volleyball champions Jennifer Kessy-Boss and April Ross successfully defended their title of the Phuket Thailand Open by defeating Angie Akers and Tyra Turner in the finals at Karon Beach yesterday.

Top finishers celebrate together on the podium after the end of the World beach volleyball at Karon Beach yesterday.

The top-seeded Kessy and Ross spent just 37 minutes to beat their American compatriots 21-12 and 21-17 and took home the winner's cheque of US$ 30,000 for their third title out of seven finals this year. They earlier triumphed at the World Championship in Norway and the Marseille Grand Slam in France.

"It is a great year for us, having won the world championship and finishing the year as the winner," after their win in the Phuket US$ 190,000 tournament, the last stop of the 2009 Swatch FIVB World Tour series.

It was the second straight runner-up spot for Akers who teamed up with Nicole Branagh, lost to the same pair last year. The second seeded pair split the $21,000 second-place prize.

In the third-place play-off, 22nd-seeded Maria Bratkova and Evgenia Ukolova of Russia came from behind to defeat 17th-seeded Lauren Fendrick and Ashley Ivy of USA 15-21, 22-20, 15-9 in 55 minutes. It was the best-ever finish for the Russia pair who earned US$15,000 while Fendrick and Ivy took home US$11,200.

Mr Geoffrey Rowe from Pentangle Promotions who has promoted the tournament for the last four years said its popularity has been increasing in terms of both teams and fans. The growth was witnessed by 66 teams from 28 countries in the event this year.