Quality competition as sun shines on Open

COLIN SMITH

FINGERTIP CONTROL: Christof Jungknickel of Nelson reaches for a return during the Tasman Open beach volleyball championships at Tahunanui on Saturday.

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The ideal weather conditions matched the impressive standard of play during Saturday's fifth Port Nelson Tasman Open beach volleyball championships at Tahunanui.

Thirteen men's pairs and nine women's pairs, and four social four-a-side teams, contested the event.

Micah Lindsay-Brown and Peri Stenhouse emerged as the top-ranked women's combination, followed by Team Biopaints, Sarah Baldwin and Anna Chamberlain, Carol Heiford and Jo Winwood, and Zoe Walker and Hanna Wilkinson.

The match between Lindsay-Brown and Stenhouse and Baldwin and Chamberlain gave an early indication of what was to come, the contest going point for point before Lindsay-Brown and Stenhouse prevailed 22-20.

The semifinals saw the two top seeds come through with comfortable 2-0 wins.

The women's open final produced some excellent volleyball, with the lead see-sawing throughout both sets.

Baldwin and Chamberlain showed the benefits of the teamwork developed during the national tour but on the day, Lindsay-Brown and Stenhouse came through some very tense points to win 21-17 21-18.

In the under-16 women's division, Briana Joyes and her partner took out the title with a 21-18 win over Rosie Bywater and Jess Allan.

The men's competition saw Greg Lindsay-Brown, fresh from a successful campaign on the New Zealand Beach Volleyball tour, pair up with fellow Marlburian Alfie Walters to take out the Tasman title with a 15-11 15-8 win over Andrew Laing and Christof Jungnickel.

Lindsay-Brown and Walters had progressed with a 2-0 semifinal win over Roy Ching and Nick McCormick, while Laing and Jungnickel earned their place in the final with a 2-0 win over Joe Bywater and Josh Ovesnek.

One of the day's notable features was the improvement in the quality of the play by the many college players making up the field. Also of interest was the number of international visitors competing, with players from Germany, France, Chile and Samoa mixing it with the local talent.

The under-16 men's grade was taken out by Jeremy Ditzel and Dion Keetley, with the Island Boys taking out the social fours competition.

The tournament attracted crowds of between 400 to 500 people at various times during the day.

Future event information available from tasmanvolleyball.co.nz.

- © Fairfax NZ News