Annoying pair can share the brotherly love
They might annoy each other at times, but Tauranga brothers Ben and Sam O’Dea are now Commonwealth Games bronze medallists.
The Kiwi beach volleyballers beat the more experienced English pair of Chris Gregory and Jake Sheaf 21-13 21-15 at the iconic Coolangatta beachfront on the Gold Coast yesterday.
And while basking in the glory of their medal-winning effort, Ben admitted he and Sam can get on each other’s nerves.
‘‘I’m sure we can both say yes [to that] at times. We are best mates, brothers, and beach volleyball partners.
‘‘One of the best decisions we’ve both made is to not live with each other.’’
But while they might not share a home, the O’Dea brothers will surely share in celebrations, having defied their world ranking to claim a cherished medal they hope will be a stepping stone towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
‘‘We can’t wipe the smiles off our faces,’’ said Sam. ‘‘It’s definitely at the top of the list.’’
‘‘We played strong in both sets, which is unlike us if you’ve followed our matches so far. We did a good job steering the ship.’’
The Kiwis were seeded fourth in the competition and their world ranking of 144 was well in the shadow of the third-seeded British combination’s ranking of 59.
Ben said they had done well to move past Wednesday night’s semifinal loss to Canada.
‘‘We did a good job getting over that loss. We understood that they were the better team that night. We just had to move on.’’
The Kiwis got off to a flier with Sam producing some stunning blocking work at the net that helped them to a 5-0 lead, forcing the English to call an early time out.
But New Zealand kept up the pressure, their tactics keeping the 2.1m Gregory out of the attacking action for much of the game.
With Ben doing a lot of the defensive work in back court, Sam was starring as he got great height and power to his game.
There was also some subtle work to complement that with clever shot placement from both Kiwis frequently frustrating the English.
The confidence just kept flowing. They successfully challenged an English point, correctly calling a touch of the net, to go to set point in the opening set.
New Zealand had beaten England 2-1 in pool play but their performance was on another level when it mattered most with a medal on the line, needing just 40 minutes to snare the bronze.