Beach volleyball begins in style

The beach volleyball tournament started today, with a surprise high-profile visitor taking to the sands for a rally.

Medal favourites brushed aside their opponents on the first day of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament on Saturday while the US president George W Bush joined in the action with an American defending champion. Mr Bush, doing the rounds of various sports, was coaxed onto the sand somewhat against his will by Athens gold medallist Misty May-Treanor and managed a rally of five. On centre court, the professionals started the pool rounds with few surprises while the crowd quickly warmed to the high-octane atmosphere with blaring rock music and cheerleaders dancing on the sand between sets. Men's defending champions Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego, of Brazil, swept past Angola's first Olympic beach volleyball team Morais Abreu and Emanuel Fernandes 21-8, 21-13. "It was so overwhelming not just to be here at the Olympics but also to be playing Emanuel and Ricardo. I just couldn't concentrate," said Mr Abreu, 40. In the women's event, home favourites Tian Jia and Wang Jie easily beat Swiss team Simone Kuhn and Lea Schwer, who got their Olympic place last week after one of Austria's teams pulled out. "I was worried I might be put off by the atmosphere but after the first few points I knew our preparation had paid off," said first-time Olympian Wang. Mr Tian played in Sydney and Athens. The pair came second in this year's Olympic ranking and are seeded first as the host-country team. "The crowd was so passionate and they were cheering for both sides which was great. Beach volleyball is really growing in popularity here," Mr Tian said. Australia's Natalie Cook, who has played every Olympics since beach volleyball joined in 1996, was taken to three sets with new partner Tamsin Barnett by Russia but was confident for the future. "The first one's always a little nerve-wracking so it's good to have it out of the way," she said. *Reuters