KEY POINTS:
Rising New Zealand combination Kirk Pitman and Jason Lochhead will test themselves against several strong international teams when the national beach volleyball tour returns next month.
The pair won four of the five events in last summer's series and have gone on to enjoy an excellent year.
Their world ranking has climbed into the world's top 40 but needs to improve further if they are to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Last month they became the first New Zealand team to win an event in Australia since 1995 when they won the Manly leg of the Australian tour.
Heading the international challenge is the Estonian team of Kristjan Kais and Rivo Vesik who are ranked in the world's top ten and will start as the obvious team to beat.
Other strong international teams include promising Swiss pair David Wenger and Philip Gabathuler and the tall US combination of Ed Ratledge and Dave Fischer.
Other local teams expected to shine are experienced pair Craig Seuseu and Brendon Heath and the New Plymouth combination of Russell Watson and Greg Lindsay-Brown.
The women's field is an even one, with several strong international players lining up, including American Tracy Lindquist, who returns for a third New Zealand tour with hard-hitting partner Ashley Ivy.
Another strong team who ply their trade on the US tour is the Filipino pair of Diane Pascua and Heide Illustre.
New Zealand interest is likely to focus on the new, tall, combination of Anna Scarlett and Susan Blundell.
With Silver Ferns netball defender Scarlett standing at 1.87m, and Blundell even taller at 1.89m, it will be the tallest women's team the series has seen.
The tour, which takes in five North Island destinations, starts in Matarangi on the Coromandel Peninsula on January 2, before heading to Wellington, and Bay of Plenty venues Ohope and Mount Maunganui.
The tour climaxes at Auckland's ASB Tennis Centre, where the centre court is transformed by sand for the New Zealand Open from January 19-21.
Beach volleyball tour schedule:
Jan 2-3: Matarangi Beach Estate
Jan 6-7: Wellington, Oriental Parade
Jan 10-11: Ohope Beach
Jan 13-14: Mount Maunganui
January 19-21: NZ Open, ASB Tennis Centre, Auckland
- NZPA
