Kasun Gamlath

Beach Volleyball Tournament

Last Sunday (Dec 7) I played my first beach volleyball tournament. About six months after I first played beach volleyball. When the tournament announced I wasn't sure about playing. Because 1) I was intimidated to play with the "intermediate" players in a competitive setting. 2) I was interested in taking photos of the tournament.

The tournament was played in King/Queen format over 3 hours (9am - 12noon) and total of 10 rounds across 3 nets. Most of the games were in 4x4 format. And a few in 3x4 format. In every round random teams were drawn. The mechanism tried to mix the beginners and intermediates in a team, and make the teams balanced. Games played until the total points reach 25. At that point team with the highest points win the game. At the end of 10 rounds, player with the highest win percentage is the King/Queen of the beach.

After much deliberation I decided to play. (And managed to take few photos with the phone) I was still anxious when I played the first game. But managed to win that game 13-12. After that I was able to relax. I played 9 games and lost 2 games. A player with 9 games played lost 1 was the King. And I believe the Queen lost 4 games out of 9 she played. I also felt it's not just about the single player's skill but how lucky they were at the team draw.

I enjoyed playing the tournament, the level of competitiveness in the games and the fact that we played good games back to back for 3 hours.