16 Feb 2012

Sport: Oceania volleyball qualifiers underway in New Zealand

11:33 am on 16 February 2012

Fiji and Papua New Guinea will be first on court when the Asia/Oceania Continental Cup Beach Volleyball Tournament gets underway in Mount Maunganui today.

The top three mens and womens pairings over the next three days will progress to the final zonal tournament in China in June, with the winner of that event qualifying for the London Olympics.

Fiji's Pacific Games Men's champions Aisake Raratabu and Waisele Suka take on PNG's Ravu Mahuru and Gereana Kila in the first match, followed by PNG's top duo against Fiji's second team.

Vanuatu's men will then take on Samoa before the opening women's clash between Fiji 1 and Samoa 2.

Australia and New Zealand are also competing at the tournament.