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While Indonesia’s boys beach volleyball received most of the hype before the Asian Youth Games, Dhita Yuliana and Dhanis Elvina gave the country a pleasant surprise in the girls draw.

The girls beach volleyball duo qualified for the semifinals by beating Kyrgyzstan’s Olga Kozlova and Sabrina Azizova 21-13, 21-9 at Siloso Beach in Singapore on Friday.

Facing taller opponents, Dhita and Dhanis played smart and focused on placing their shots.

“We would lose if we kept smashing as it would be easier for them to block the ball in front of the net,” Dhita said. “So we played more trick shots and it was very effective.”

They will meet Bakhtygul Samalikova and Lyubov Bogatu of Kazakhstan in today’s semifinals.

Ade Chandra Rachmawan and Gede Eka Agustiawan had the day off in the boys tournament, and Indonesia coach Joko Sutrisno said he was optimistic the boys would reach the last round.

“The boys defeated two tough teams, China and Kazakhstan, in their group games. I’m quite sure that they can go to the final,” Joko said.

In the pool, two of Indonesia’s swimmers missed out on the medal podium. Margaretha Kretapradani finished sixth in 50-meter breaststroke, and Raina Saumi Grahana finished seventh in 200-meter butterfly.

Arif Rahman took sixth place in the 800-meter run final at Bishan Stadium. His time of 1 minute, 59.30 seconds was four seconds behind winner Ravi Kumar of India.

Ikadiatul suffered a scare in the 400-meter dash on Thursday. She was taken off the track on a stretcher when she collapsed after crossing the finish line.

“I felt it just 100 meters before the finish so I couldn’t run faster,” she said. “This is my first international tournament, so I felt a bit groggy and didn’t warm up well enough.”

Thailand’s Benjamas Yuadthong won the race in 57.38 seconds, followed by Elina Mikhina of Kazakhstan and Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-wen.

China leads the medal table with 15 golds, five silvers and three bronzes. South Korea is second with seven golds and six each of silver and bronze, and Japan is third with four golds and six silvers. Indonesia has yet to win a medal at the Games, which end on Tuesday.

Antara, JG