The Electric New Paper
BEACH BALL WORLD TOUR
HOT? WE JUST WANT TO PLAY
BALL
They turned up the heat at Siloso Beach this
weekend, but these players don't think of themselves as stars
By Ho Lian Yi, 28 May 2007
SURE, not every guy can tell what's a good spike or a superb
serve.
But even if one knows nothing about beach volleyball, surely every
guy can appreciate the sight of athletic, sunkissed, bikini-clad
women of all races leaping about in the sand.
Some of the players were perhaps idols for reasons other than just
skills.
You could call it the Anna Kournikova factor.
Take the pair of Miwa Asao and Takemi Nishibori from Japan.
Although they failed to make it into the final 32 teams in the
inaugural Singapore leg of the Swatch FIVB Beach Volleyball World
Tour at Sentosa, they are certainly winners in the looks department
for being arguably the best looking pair on the beach.
With her long, dark hair, and freckles, Miwa, 21, if she wasn't so
tanned, would be the very definition of a 'kawaii' beauty.
'She's amazingly pretty,' the besotted local Japanese interpreter
told this reporter.
She has released two photobooks, a DVD and appears regularly on
TV.
They have lost count of the fan letters they have received.
But Miwa said: 'We think of ourselves only as sportswomen who play
volleyball.'
And for them, their fame only makes them work harder.
'We want to win for all the people who support us,' she said.
