"To be honest, they are totally different," Qatari player Amir Denguir said of the comparison between the beach and indoor versions of the game. "Beach handball is more fun. You play on the beach and enjoy it, while indoor handball is more serious and comes with more pressure."

The fun of competing at the beach Games is multiplied when the action takes to the ocean.

In addition to the challenge brought by their opponents, water polo athletes in Sanya also have to contend with the rhythm of ocean waves, competing in open-air pools set on inshore floating decks.

The more experienced competitors have learned to read wave patterns, timing their sprints, while adjusting shooting motions between swells to make the best of the brief moments of stability offered by mother nature.

"The waves became strong at one point; a huge swell threw me off balance and blocked my sight so that I could not see my teammates," women's player Chan Pakyin of Hong Kong, China, said of the challenging nature of the open-water polo.