Bikini girls drive beach boys to distraction

Guangzhou: Bikini-wearing Asian Games beach volleyball cheer squads are proving too hot for some competitors who claim the scantily-clad dancers make it impossible to concentrate.

"They had an effect on how we played," Yemen beach volleyballer Adeeb Mahfoudh told the a news daily. "I think they had something to do with our losing the match." The Yemeni men`s team lost their Tuesday clash to an apparently more focused team from Indonesia, the paper said. Organisers of the Guangzhou Asiad have hired four cheerleader squads, each made up of eight girls in swimsuits, to entertain fans during breaks in the beach volleyball action, said the newspaper. Besides cheering on the already capacity crowds, the girls also perform routines that include traditional Chinese elements including martial arts and fan dancing. "These girls are very beautiful. With them here, more people will pay attention to beach volleyball," smiled Mahfoudh. "If I can, I hope to watch them perform at the next match." During an "inspection" tour yesterday, Kenneth Fok, deputy delegation head of Team Hong Kong -- and reportedly romantically involved with China`s Olympic diving champion Guo Jingjing -- said the beach volleyball venue was "orderly" and the rally team "sexy," the paper said. PTI