Sam and Ben O’Dea made a promising start to their men’s beach volleyball competition today when they fought back to beat a strong team from Cyprus.
The New Zealanders came out on top of a gruelling 56-minute encounter, winning 16-21, 21-19, 15-11.
Sam, 27, and Ben, 25, showed admirable composure after losing the first set, but had to fight to maintain their slim lead in the second. Once they clinched that in thrilling circumstances, they looked marginally the better combination.
The New Zealanders play Mozambique tomorrow in the second of their three pool matches.