New Zealand men’s and women’s teams share their honours on the top podium
Hosts Vanuatu sweep both men’s and women’s silver medals
New Zealand topped both the men’s and women’s podiums at the 2023 AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Oceania Zone in Port Vila, with the Kiwi men sweeping hosts Vanuatu 2-0 in a comfortable showdown.
New Zealand, Vanuatu and Australia makes a 1-2-3 finish in the women’s event
The 2023 AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup, a beach volleyball double-gender event for teams representing Asian countries competed in a country vs country matches in a single elimination “best-f-three” format, was held in Vanuatu’s capital city Port Vila between September 1-5 including the arrival and departure of all participating teams.
Five national federations strutted their stuff in the five-day AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Oceania Zone, with New Zealand, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands and hosts Vanuatu featured in the men’s event and New Zealand, Australia, Solomon Islands and hosts Vanuatu in the women’s category.
New Zealand on top of the podium, with Vanuatu and Solomon Islands in second and third places
In the finals of the two-day event, Kiwis captured the men’s title after convincing 2-0 win against Vanuatu in the comfortable showdown, while the women’s final clash saw the Kiwis struggle to beat the host side 2-1.
Following a clean sweep of victories in both men’s and women’s event, New Zealand qualified for the Final Phase due to be held during the week of June 21-23, 2024, with the eventual winners in this Phase Final qualifying for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The qualified teams in the Final Phase came from 5 winning NFs per gender from Phase 1 plus Host NF, one 2021 Continental Cup Champions NF and one Winning NF from Phase 2, totaling 8 NFs per gender.
Vanuatu women’s team players pose in group photo
Vanuatu, second place in both genders, made the cut for Phase 2 due to take place in no later than June 2024. Participating teams in Phase 2 will comprise 1st runner-up NFs per gender from Phase 1 (5 NFs) plus Host NF, totalling maximum 6 NFs per gender.
In Port Vila, the men’s semifinals were held on September 2, with New Zealand brushing off Tuvalu 2-0 and Vanuatu demolishing Solomon Islands 2-0.
In the first semifinal clash, Bradley Fuller/Alani Nicklin handed New Zealand the first win after pulling off a totally one-sided 21-9, 21-6 win against Tuvalu’s Ata Biira Taunteang/Ampex Isaac….
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