Shaunna Polley, left, and Julia Tilley took out the women's division of the New Zealand Beach Tour Finals at Mount Maunganui. Photo / George Novak
Shaunna Polley, left, and Julia Tilley took out the women's division of the New Zealand Beach Tour Finals at Mount Maunganui. Photo / George Novak
Julia Tilley and Shaunna Polley have just won the New Zealand Beach Tour Finals - but they won't have much time to rest before their next event.
The tournament on Saturday and Sunday was the sixth round of the New Zealand Beach Tour and after two days of competition atMount Maunganui's Main Beach, the Tauranga duo took out the tournament after beating Vanuatu's Linline Matauatu and Loti Joe in the final.
Tauranga's Mike Watson and Auckland's Johann Timmer took out the men's competition, beating Tauranga Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Sam O'Dea and Australia's Chris Blake in the final match.
Mike Watson, left, and Johann Timmer took out the Men's division of the New Zealand Beach Tour Finals. Photo / George Novak
"It was amazing, a really good set up ... international teams. It was a really strong field and a really good event," Tilley says.
Dave Miller from BeachedAz Events, the company running the tour, says the weekend's five star event featured a strong field of competitors, "phenomenal" weather and a full grandstand of supporters.
He says quality international teams entered the tournament, with Kiwi teams taking out both the men's and women's competitions.
"They're both playing really, really well right now," he says of Polley and Tilley.
In the men's final, Miller says Blake's fitness probably let them down, helping Watson and Timmer secure the win at the Beach Tour Final tournament.
Tauranga's Sam O'Dea and Australia's Chris Blake during the final of the Beach Tour Finals. Photo / George Novak
Tilley says the beach tour final was good preparation for their next event - the Oceania Zone of the Tokyo 2020 AVC Continental Cup Phase 1, which gets under way at Mount Maunganui's Main Beach today and continues until finals on Thursday.
With just a matter of days between the two tournaments, Tilley says she spends the in between time resting, fuelling her body and paying attention to what her body needs.
"It's not too bad, just have to make sure we recover well, warm up well," Tilley says.
Tilley expects her and Polley's first games to be tomorrow and will again come up against Matauatu and Joe during the tournament. Even though they won their last match-up, Tilley says they will review footage to check for opportunities that could help them win again.
"It's good to have a trial run against them," she said of the weekend's battle.
"If we win then we get to go to the final stage f the Continental Cup and then the winner of that will go to Tokyo," she says.
Miller is hoping to see a good crowd turn out for this week's Continental Cup, with finals happening from 1pm on Thursday.
