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Russia's bitter volley after beach clash with Georgia
Shekhar Bhatia and Kiran Randhawa in Beijing13 Aug 2008
Russia and Georgia fought each other on the beaches today - with the bikini-clad underdog achieving an unlikely victory.
But the Olympic beach volleyball clash was marred by the bitterness between the two countries.
At first, the contest promised to be a sporting affair. Both teams shook hands before the Georgian team crossed under the volleyball net and Russian players Natalya Uryadova and Alexandra Shiryaeva exchanged hugs with Georgia's Andrezza Chagas and Cristine Santanna.
However, the Russians revealed their true feelings after the "Georgian" pair, both born in Brazil, came back from a match point against to clinch victory two sets to one. At a press conference afterwards, Uryadova, 31, from Moscow, questioned the right of the Georgian players to be allowed to be included in the event. "We were playing against Brazilians here," she argued. Shiryaeva, who kept mostly silent, was seen wagging her index finger against the Georgians as she spoke in Russian to a selected group later. She said: "Georgia were stupid to start a war with Russia because we are big and they are small."
Santanna, 29, and Chagas, 31, were born in Sao Paulo and Manaus, and were granted Georgian citizenship two years ago.
The wife of the Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili is a former volleyballer and has met the two Brazilian-born athletes.
Santanna said: "My message is that I gave all my strength here. I'm fighting for you as you are fighting there.
"I was inspired by what is going on back in Georgia and it made me more determined to win, yes. I feel very sorry for the Georgian team as many wanted to fly home and see their families and I thought about going home to Brazil.
"But they could not go home because the airport in Tbilisi had been bombed and some wanted to stay. Today I feel Georgian and proud to be one. We both fought very hard to get our citizenship. But I have only been there twice."
