Men’s beach Volleyball 18th Asian Games Jakarta Palembang 2018

18th  Asian Games Jakarta

Palembang 2018

Indonesia Defeats Palestine In Men’s beach

Volleyball

In

Asian Games 2018

Antara/Palembang/ Jakarta

The Indonesian men’s beach volleyball team overpowered Palestine in a match played at Jakabaring Sport City, Palembang, South Sumatra, on Tuesday afternoon.

The Indonesian pair of Gilang Ramadhan and Danangsyah Yudistira Pribadi bested Alarqan and Alqishawi of Palestine in two games 21-11, 21-13, sealing the win in the qualifying round.

The Indonesians delivered smash after smash to the opposing pair and closed the game in two straight sets.

Gilang said he was nervous at the first three points, yet, he managed to find calmness and upped his performance. This year’s Games is his first Asian Games.

Danangsyah explained this was the first time they had played against the Palestinian pair and this contributed to their nervousness as they didn’t know what the pair was capable of.

Their next match will be against Bangladesh, he added.

To face the round of 16, Gilang said they would improve on their strategy.

"We’ll see who we’re playing against and watch videos of their performances," he added.

There was another story to today’s match as for the Palestinians it was more than just a match. Gilang said he was given a scarf as a souvenir before the game by the Palestinians. This showed the close relationship between Indonesia, the country with the biggest Muslim population in the world, and Palestine, which Indonesia has never stopped supporting and assisting in their fight for independence.

On the occasion, the Indonesian and Palestinian athletes took a picture together, wearing the Palestinian scarves.