Fiji's Olympic beach volleyball dream is still alive after beating Samoa to advance to the men's semi finals at the Asian Volleyball Confederation's Continental Cup in Mount Maunganui.
Wayne Fisher and Manasa Rogoivalu eased past Samoa's Asi Samuelu Tevaga and Junior Faletogo 21-16, 21-12 in the opening match before Filimoni Serevi and Vilimone Rokomurimuri came from a set down to defeat Enoch Sovala and Filo Faletasi 18-21, 21-16, 15-10.
Fiji made a winning start to the Continental Cup Olympic qualifiers in Mount Maunganui. Photo: Volleyball NZ
Today is semi final day in the Mount with Australia up against Tuvalu and Fiji taking on New Zealand in the men's draw.
Vanuatu will face Solomon Islands in the opening women's semi final, with Pacific Games gold medallists Miller Pata and Sherysyn Toko joining Linline Matauatu and Loti Joe, who finished second at the New Zealand Beach Tour finals on the weekend.
"These girls haven't played together for a long time because they just both had a baby last year and so we decided to let them play this tour final in New Zealand so it was the perfect warm up for our second team and they made a really good show," explained head coach Michel Bargmann.
"We are really happy with their performance and I think we are well prepared for today's matches."
Vanuatu finished runners-up in the New Zealand Beach Volleyball Tour Finals. Photo: Julie Maree Photography/Volleyball New Zealand
The Vanuatu team arrived in New Zealand on Friday, after spending two weeks competing in Australia, and Bargmann said they have left no stone unturned.
"It was important for us to arrive here early and see the venue and get used to the wind and the sand," he said.
"It's always different and one team already had the matches in the competition with the other team we were training everyday so I think that was the most important for us."
"It was important for us to see the New Zealand teams performing so that we can prepare for them because they are our strongest opponents and we compare the matches against them."
Solomon Islands finished fourth at last year's Pacific Games in Samoa and Bargmann said they are very familiar with their first-up opponents.
"We've seen them a lot like in zonal or regional competitions so we know what we are expecting and so we know what's coming up and we are quite confident that it's like a good semi-final for us and that we make it to the final to face New Zealand."
Loti Joe and Linline Matauatu finished second in the New Zealand Beach Volleyball Tour finals. Photo: Julie Maree Photography/Volleyball New Zealand
Vanuatu Volleyball President Debbie Masauvakalo said they were grateful for the loyal supporters who had already made their voices heard.
"We've had a lot of people from Vanuatu here on holidays or here at school coming down and supporting," she said.
"And they will be coming back on Wednesday and Thursday when we start the Continental Cup so it's amazing how many people and support we have here in Mount Maunganui."
Pacific Games gold medallists Miller Pata and Sherysyn Toko with Vanuatu Volleyball President Debbie Masauvakalo. Photo: Vanuatu Volleyball
This week's Oceania Zone qualifier is the first of three tournaments in the qualification process for Tokyo.
The men's and women's winners will advance directly to the Asian Continental Cup finals in China at the end of June, while the two runners up will compete in the semi playoffs earlier in the month.