Venue well credited
Although spectators found it hard to cope with the hot, dry weather, players from home and abroad shrugged off the conditions.
"We have played a lot of matches under hot sunshine," said Brazilian Angela Vieira, who together with Danielle Da Conceicao Cunha Vivian won Sunday's final from Chinese pair Yue Yuan and Zhang Wenwen.
"It did not make difference to play here in Beijing.
"In Brazil, the weather is also very hot but has more humidity than in Beijing.
"But the organizing committee put everything into consideration and has made extra efforts to deal with the problems.
"Overall, I do not think the weather will be a problem for the players at Beijing Olympics."
The Chaoyang Park venue in eastern Beijing, where about 17,000 tonnes of fine-grain sand was shipped in from South China's Hainan Province, earned many plaudits.
"This is good sand and a great stadium," Vieira said.
"The venue is amazing - spectators are close and that makes it very special."
Her partner was equally positive.
"It is not easy to build a beach volleyball venue on land," Vivian said. "It is great feeling to compete on such high-level venue and it is a great contribution to the sport in the world."
Local players said they were delighted with the chance to compete on an Olympic standard ground.
"The sand is soft and we feel very comfortable standing on it," Yue said. "We do not have many competitions on such good sands."
"Maybe our best players are jealous right now."
China's best beach volleyball pairs Tian Jia and Wang Jie and Xue Cheng and Zhang Xi, ranked 1st and 2nd respectively in the world, and other elite players did not attend Beijing's test event because of commitments for the FIVB World Tour season.
(China Daily 08/21/2007 page22)
