Mike Watson (lef) and Sam O'Dea are on a roll at the right time heading into a busy summer campaign. Photo / John Borren
A year spent playing professionally throughout Australasia and Asia is starting to pay huge dividends for the Mount Maunganui-based New Zealand number one pairing of Mike Watson and Sam O'Dea.
The duo downed two top Australian teams on their way to their first Oceania gold medal at the Oceania Beach
Volleyball Championships held at Sydney's Manly beach.
In a hard-fought semifinal, the third-ranked Kiwis kept their noses in front of Australians Casey Grice and Cole Durant to win in three sets (21-18, 18-21, 15-8), before they cleared out in the final against Damian Schuman and Josh Court to take the gold medal in straight sets (21-15, 21-14).
The Australians went into the event higher ranked than the former Otumoetai College team, making the win in front of an Australian crowd "very satisfying", according to Watson.
The other NZ men's pair of Rene Kapa and Thomas Hartles made the semifinals but could only finish fourth, while both women's pairings - Julia Tilley and Shaunna Polley, and Danielle Quigley and Chantal Tung - went down at the quarter-final stage.
