New Zealand beach volleyballers Anna Scarlett and Susan Blundell won a thrilling final over German opponents in the second round of the national series in Wellington yesterday.
After finishing runner-up in Wellington for the past two years, Scarlett and Blundell finally shook off the bridesmaid tag, beating accomplishedfoe Okka Rau and Helke Claasen 21-19, 17-21, 15-13.
Rau is a two-time Olympian, and ranked 14th in the world, so the win was especially satisfying for the New Zealanders, making it two wins from two events in the series.
The lead changed several times in the deciding set, before some great serves and blocks from Scarlett saw the hosts to a popular win.
Earlier in the day they enjoyed another three-set tussle in their semifinal, beating Americans Paige Davis and Jen Snyder 21-16, 17-21, 15-13.
Rau and Claasen won their semifinal 21-16, 21-16 over the promising New Zealand combination of Emma Preston and Toni Edmonson.
To make the semifinal was a victory in itself for Preston and Edmonson, upsetting the fancied Brazilian pairing of Nina Zgoda and Fernanda Costa in their quarter-final.
The men's competition proved to be an anticlimax, New Zealand top seeds Kirk Pitman and Jason Lochhead had to withdraw from the final after Lochhead suffered a knee injury earlier in the day.
A bitterly disappointed Lochhead was advised by medical staff that playing the final might further aggravate the injury, so he made the decision to withdraw and look to get the knee right for the rest of the series.
The knee injury affected Lochhead's performance in their 21-19, 16-21, 25-23 semifinal win over Germans Raimund Wenning and Stefan Schenbeck.
The tournament winners by default were the tall Dutch pair Timko Lokerse and Bart Bolsterlee, who eliminated the No 2 New Zealand combination of Brendon Heath and Greg Lindsay-Brown 21-19, 21-15 in the semifinals. The 1.98m Bolsterlee was a giant in the front court, dominating semifinal proceedings with some great blocking and hitting at the net.
The series now heads to Ohope for a tournament on Wednesday and Thursday.
