Beach volleyball: Germans block Kiwi duo's hopes

David Klemperer (left) looks to handle the defence of Kirk Pitman. Picture / Kenny Rodgers

The Grand Slam may have eluded them but Kirk Pitman said he and teammate Jason Lochhead will take plenty of positives from the national beach volleyball tour that ended in Auckland yesterday.

Having won the first four tour events, Pitman and Lochhead were hoping to also take the final event, the New Zealand Open, played at the Auckland Tennis Centre over the weekend.

However, the German combination of Kjell Schnider and David Klemperer had other ideas.

Beaten by the Kiwis in last weekend's final in Mt Maunganui, the Germans edged out the New Zealanders 21-17 and 21-18 in yesterday's tightly-contested final.

At 13 the German team is ranked 15 places higher than the New Zealand team in the world and although they combined only just over a year ago, are already regarded as one of the strongest teams on the world circuit.

"I think we met a high-quality side who were looking for revenge for last weekend," Pitman said.

"They came out with guns firing and gave it to us.

"They are both very good players who have won world tour events so for us to take that win last weekend was a great result for us."

Trailing their opponents 7-4 early in the first set, the Kiwis clawed their way back and went out to a 13-11 lead.

However, the Germans stepped up in the second half, drilling several balls between the New Zealand duo.

Pitman and Lochhead got off to a better start in the second set matching the Germans point for point, but at 17-17 the New Zealanders made a couple of unforced errors.

"We played 25 games on this New Zealand tour and we won 24 of them so I am pretty happy with that," Pitman said.

"Our goal here was to go out there and play our best and I felt we did that, but it wasn't quite enough against these top German guys."

With Olympic qualification not beginning until next season, Pitman and Lochhead have a year to enhance their game.

They will head to Thailand for tournaments on the Asian tour in April before embarking on the world tour.

Ranked 28th in the world, the pair need to be in at least the top 24 to secure an Olympic spot. However, only two teams from each country can qualify for the Olympics and at the moment Brazil, for example, have four teams in the top 25, which puts the Kiwis right up there.

"We need to beat teams like this," Pitman said, when asked what they have to do to step up another level.

"We meet them regularly and we are often so close. We have beaten a couple of good teams but we need to do it more regularly."

While the Grand Slam was not achieved in the men's competition it was in the women's with the German team of Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig comfortable winners over Americans Tracey Lindquist and Courtney Guerra.

The Germans, who were competing in New Zealand for the first time, claimed the title 21-15, 21-18.

The impressive pair, ranked 40th in the world, only lost one set in the entire five-event tour.

"They are very well rounded, they don't lack in any skill," Lindquist said.

"They pass well, they set well, they serve, they hit well."