Tauranga's elite pro beach volleyballers have a good chance of gaining selection for next year's Rio Olympic games after the latest series of Asian qualifying held in Rarotonga.
New Zealand number one team of Sam O'Dea and Mike Watson, and number two Ben O'Dea and Jason Lochhead, can still make it to Rio with everything on the line at the last round of qualifying in Australia in June next year. There the top qualifiers will get an Olympic berth.
All four players are products of the Otumoetai College beach volleyball pathway.
Rarotonga was the second phase of the Olympic qualification process. The format for the competition is similar to the Davis Cup with two teams from each country playing each other, with two wins progressing the team in the tournament. If there is a tie then a golden match is played to decide the winner.
The New Zealanders' first match was against American Samoa, with consistent play resulting in a comfortable win. They then took on the super confident Australians in the final. Watson and Sam O'Dea beat Australia in straight sets but Ben O'Dea and Lochhead lost a massive battle to Australia in the third set 21-23.
