Brothers eye Olympic goal
Despite winning two tournaments at Mount Maunganui, Sam and Ben O’dea focus on Games qualification
The O’dea brothers don’t like to lose so it’s no surprise they’ve taken the top spot at the Mount Maunganui Beach Volleyball Open — but winning isn’t their only priority.
“The important thing is to keep healthy and keep improving,” one half of the team, Ben O’dea says.
The pair came up against Brad Fullerton and Paora Morunga in a three-set final of the Mount open on Sunday to win the tournament.
O’dea said it was an awesome game and it was good to play another Kiwi team in the final.
Day one of the tournament on Saturday was “really hot”, with finals day being “physically demanding”, with some really good games throughout the event. Having international teams competing was really good for competition, O’dea said.
While O’dea said securing the win, after taking out the New Zealand Beach Volleyball Champs at Mount Maunganui the week before was good progress and they would love
We had them [Kotnik and Simonsson] in our pool the day before and we had beaten them . . . they played really well in the final. Julia Tilley
to take out the next two events of the National Beach Tour, they “never look far ahead”.
“We kind of take it game-by-game, we both don’t like to lose.”
Their main focus remains on working hard to attain Olympic qualification.
Julia Tilley and Shaunna Polley Ben O’dea on finals day at the Mount Maunganui Beach Volleyball Open at Mount Main Beach on Sunday. were unable to secure a win against international team of Tjasa Kotnik (Slovenia) and Sigrid Simonsson (Sweden) in the their final on Sunday but will have another chance to play against the pair this weekend.
Tilley said she was feeling a little unsatisfied with the outcome of the two-day competition given they had managed to beat the visitors on Saturday.
“We had them in our pool the day before and we had beaten them.”
However, she said on day one Kotnik and Simonsson did not play to their full potential but came back on finals day to keep the locals out of the game.
“They played really well in the final.”
From today, the two teams will be training together until Friday in the lead-up to their next event in the National Beach Tour, at the Waikato Beach Volleyball Open Karapiro this weekend, when Tilley says she hopes to avenge Sunday’s result. Dave Miller from Beachedaz Events, the company running the tour, said the weather was amazing for the Mount Maunganui Beach Volleyball Open with the international teams struggling with the heat on Saturday but enjoying the cooler temperatures on Sunday.
He said it was really beneficial to have the European teams in the competition because it allowed the women’s teams to be pushed further than they would normally, including dealing with the height difference.
“It’s good for our girls’ teams . . . they need something like that.”
He said overall, the crowds were good and there were some tight games being played, with plenty of appreciated support from local sponsors.