PANAJI
Goan beach volleyball pair of Rama Dhawaskar and Nitin Sawant finished runners-up at AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup (zonal preliminary round) played in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
The Goan duo, who beat Bhutan (2-0) in the quarterfinals and hosts Bangladesh (2-0) in the semifinals of the Central Zone championship, lost the final against Iranian duo of Bahman Salemiin and Sina Shokati 2-0.
Despite the loss, the Goan pair -- one of the two Indian teams in action in the competition -- advanced to the semifinal round of the double-gender championship organised by the Asian Volleyball Confederation. Dhawaskar and Sawant will now play in the semifinal round comprising teams from Japan, Oman, Thailand and a host country, which is yet to be decided.
Dhawaskar and Sawant had won the selection tournament to qualify for the Asian Games. However, the duo were not cleared to participate in the continental showpiece by the Indian sports ministry as they did not fulfil the criteria of having an international ranking.
