Best bets Kamolthip and Yupa did not let their local supporters down, beating Yue and Zhang 21-14 21-10 in the women's final.

Earlier, Kamolthip and Yupa had beaten the Chinese duo in the quarter-finals and again in the final of the recent Phatthalung-Loma Asian Beach Volleyball Invitation last week.

The winners took home prize money of US$3,000 and an incentive of Bt300,000 from the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT).

The Chinese pair Yue and Zhang received US$2,500 for their efforts.

In third-place play-off, Thais Jarunee Sannok and Usa Tenpaksee put in a fine show to beat Yuki Yanagawa and Kazuko Sugawara of Japan 21-13 21-13 to pocket US$2,000.

Joint fifth place went to the duo of Marnie Grant and Susan Blundell of New Zealand who beat Malaysians Luk Teck-hua and Beh Shun-thing 21-14 21-15, and Kazakhs Marina Storozhenko and Yelena Alenkina, who crushed Nguyen Thi-tiep and Phan

Thi Cam Hong of Vietnam 21-13 21-12.

In the men's division, Indonesians Andy Ardiansyah and Koko Prasetyo Darkuncoro proved they are a cut above the rest. The top team thrashed Gao Fangtian and Han Shengwei of China 21-14 21-12 to capture the men's crown and the US$3,000 prize money.

Sathaporn Sawangruang and struggling Apichat Bua-luang, who picked up a knee injury in the last minute of a warm-up session, went down to New Zealand's Greg Lindsay and Russell Watson 21-16 21-19 in the third-place play-off.

Fellow Thais Baworn Yangthin and Montree Cha-emnoy defeated Vietnamese Tran Ngoc Cao Son and Nguyen Van Thanh 18-21 21-14 15-13 to take the fifth place with Rhovyl Verayo and Parley Tupaz of the Philippines, who edged out Suratna and Agung Santoso 16-21 21-18 17-15.

The top four teams in both divisions will participate in the next leg in Bali.

Somporn Suphop

The Nation

Songkhla