KEY POINTS:
Two junior women stars from Brazil cap a strong field assembled for the first round of the New Zealand Beach Volleyball Tour starting in Matarangi on Wednesday.
The opening leg of the five-round series has attracted some top international teams to the Coromandel along with some bright domestic prospects.
Brazilians Camilla Saldanha and Lili Maestrini have both won world under-21 titles. Maestrini is a current champion, with Saldanha winning the title in 2005.
They will be the team to beat at Matarangi but should face strong competition from United States duo Jenelle Koester and Paige Davis, who play on the strong American Volleyball Professional (AVP) tour.
They are making their first trip to New Zealand, as are the promising Swedish pairing of Camilla Nilsson and Rivia Oliveira.
New Zealand's hopes are headed by Anna Scarlett and Susan Blundell, with former Silver Fern Scarlett having recently announced her retirement from netball.
Other local hopes include Marnie Grant & Megan Lippi-Smith, Debbie Hill and Melissa Ruru, and the young Tauranga pairing of Rachel Morgan and Hannah Croad who finished ninth at this year's world under-19 championships.
Leading New Zealand men's combination Kirk Pitman and Jason Lochhead are chasing a third successive title at Matarangi.
They are coming off a strong international season, which included two 13th placings on the World Tour at the Canada and Brazil legs, and a 17th placing at the world championships.
Pitman and Lochhead are currently just outside Olympic Games qualification, with an Olympic ranking of 27 and will be seeking a strong start to 2008 to force their way into the top 24.
Their main rivals should be American pair Paul Baxter and Adam Roberts and the tall Dutch combination of Bart Bolsterlee and Timko Lokerse.
Other New Zealand teams who could feature are the highly experienced Craig Seuseu and Mike Peters, Brendon Heath and Charles Leota, Hayden Jones and Soane Vaipulu and the New Plymouth pairing of Russell Watson and Greg Lindsay-Brown.
The Matarangi tournament is the first leg of of a Tour which travels to five centres in the North Island during January.
- NZPA
