Teams from China, Canada, USA and hosts New Zealand make Mount Maunganui Beach podium
Shaunna Polley & Alice Zeimann celebrate (source: volleyballnz.org.nz)
China’s Ha Likejiang & Wu Jiaxin and New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley & Alice Zeimann lived up to their ‘entry-point status’ and earned the titles at the season’s first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures event, held this week in Mount Maunganui Beach, the first-ever world-level tournament hosted by New Zealand.
The semifinals and the medal matches were streamed live on the **Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel**.
Another home pair, main draw top seeds Sam O’Dea & Ben O’Dea, and US qualifiers David McKienzie & Benjamin Vaught completed the men’s podium. New Zealand’s Olivia MacDonald & Julia Tilley took the women’s silver, while the bronze went to Canada’s Shanice Marcelle & Lea Monkhouse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKIx-EhSN5I&t=49s
It was the second consecutive Futures gold for 30-year-old Ha Likejiang and 29-year-old Wu Jiaxin. The Chinese team also won November’s tournament in Sohar. This time the second-seeded pair took the long road to the top.
After starting off with a win, but losing the Pool B final to Kiwis Thomas Reid & John McManaway in the tie-breaker, Ha & Wu had to win the next four matches in a row to celebrate as tournament champions. And they did it without dropping a set. In Sunday’s final, they produced a 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) shutout of home favourites O’Dea & O’Dea.
For New Zealand’s brothers, 32-year-old Sam O’Dea & 30-year-old Ben O’Dea, it was the first Beach Pro Tour appearance as a team and might well be the last before retirement. Sam had two previous Futures podiums with Bradley Fuller, a Giardini Naxos gold and a Balikesir silver, while Ben had a Songkhla Futures gold with Thomas Reid. Together, they won all of their matches in Mount Maunganui Beach, except for the final, and settled for silver.
The really long road to the podium was taken by 43-year-old David McKienzie and 26-year-old Benjamin Vaught. The Americans made the main draw after winning two games in Thursday’s qualifiers. They lost their first pool match, but then won three in a row to reach the semifinals, where they lost to Ha & Wu. In the bronze medal match, the Americans, seeded 13th in the main draw, mastered a 2-0 (21-14, 21-11) sweep of New Zealanders Thomas Hartles & Thomas Heijs. For either of the two US players, it was the rookie appearance on the Beach Pro…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Asian Volleyball Confederation…