Brothers and their playing partners top list of Kiwi contenders in with winning chance this weekend
If a local is to take out the men's title in the New Zealand Beach Volleyball Open this weekend, chances are one of the three O'Dea brothers will be involved.
With former Kiwi No 1 pair Kirk Pitman and Jason Lochhead giving the New Zealand tour a miss this year to recover from injuries, the Tauranga siblings - Edwin (20), Sam (19) and Ben (17) - and their respective partners hold down the top three places in the New Zealand rankings.
The hopes of a local pairing winning rest on the siblings' shoulders.
But for the three brothers there's more at stake than just the silverware.
Whoever takes out the Open, the pinnacle event on the McEntee Hire NZ Beach Volleyball Tour, will enjoy the bragging rights through to next summer. So far it is the eldest, Edwin, who can afford to do the most of the trash-talking around the family dinner table.
He and playing partner Brendon Heath are the No 1 ranked Kiwi pairing and the top seeds for this weekend's Open. A new combination this year, the pair have had immediate success, winning Tour events in Christchurch and Wellington.
But they haven't had it all their way. They were skittled in the semifinals in Mt Maunganui last weekend by Edwin's younger brother Ben and his teammate, Mike Watson.
Ben, 17, has been the surprise package of the 2010 tour to date, making the finals in Christchurch and Mt Maunganui and semifinals in Wellington. His pair's strong run has seen him overtake middle brother Sam in the rankings. Sam admits he and partner Greg Lindsay-Brown have had a fairly quiet season so far, but hopes to make up for it at the Auckland tournament.
"I made the final in Wellington and two thirds, so it's been close, but we haven't been able to pull off a win just yet, hopefully this weekend," he said.
While the trio have all paired up with older, more experienced rivals this year, Edwin and Sam did play together for a couple of seasons before sibling friction got the better of them.
The two older boys teamed up on the 2007 and 2008 New Zealand tours, and became the youngest team to qualify for the NZ Open after working their way up to the No 3 ranking.
But the decision was made last year to team up with other top-ranked Kiwis.
"Towards the end I think it was time for us to try something new," said Edwin.
But Sam put a less-diplomatic spin on things.
"It was more a maturity thing, we fought too much and stuff.
"Especially growing up together and playing together was pretty tough, so we thought we'd give it a break."
But they both agree teaming up with more experienced players has helped to develop their own game.
"You learn way more off the older guys anyway," said Edwin. "We can always play together whenever we want in the future, so it's better to make the most of the older guys that are leading the way at the moment and hopefully grow from there."
