Four beach volleyball players from CitiBeach Volleyball have returned to Townsville after playing in the World Masters Games in Sydney.
All were successful in winning medals, across a wide range of age categories. The tournament was played on Maroubra Beach in the south-eastern suburbs of Sydney. Blustery conditions throughout the tournament were a significant test for all competitors. With team numbers hitting over 20 in some grades the competition was intense. Matches were best of 3 sets, or a time limit of 45 minutes of game time.
Most successful were Michael Matheson and Wayne Kelly, who won a gold in the Over 45 Men’s 4-a-side competition, as members of the team “Here to Party” , and a silver medal in the Over 40 Men’s 4-side, as members of the team “The Fource Be With You”. In the Over-45 competition they lost their first pool play game to U.S.A. but recovered well from there to win the pool crossover and then confront U.S.A. again in the gold medal match. This time they reversed the result, with a 21-17, 21-15 victory.
Their toughest 4-a-side game was the final of the Over-40 competition where they went down 15-11 in the 3rd set to Tasmania, to finish with the silver.
Matheson played in the Over 50 Men’s pairs event with former Townsville and now Rockhampton resident Dan Goodman, losing to Russia and Estonia, but beating Finland. Unfortunately this was not good enough to guarantee an advance to the semi-finals, but the Russian team went on to win the gold.
Wayne Kelly, who has only just returned to the sport after injuries, combined with Tony Strong of the Gold Coast and formerly of Mackay, in the Over-40 pairs. Again, this was a tough competition with many international teams, and they can be proud of their placing of 9th among 20 teams.
Annette Rogers teamed with former Townsville player Vicki Campbell to play in Over-35 Ladies pairs. Competition was particularly strong with a field of 16 and they earned a meritorious 5th placing behind 2 Canadian teams who were separated by silver medallists from Finland.
Rogers did better in the 4-a-side competitions though, earning a silver medal in the Over-35 Ladies division, and a gold medal in the Over-30 Ladies division. These events comprised mainly Australian teams, whereas the European teams had dominated the pairs divisions.
Dick Moody was the only Townsville player to win a pairs medal, with a bronze in the Over-60 Men’s division. Moody teamed with George Mraz of Melbourne, a former captain of the Australian indoor team in the 1970s. Mraz coaches numerous junior and senior State players in Victoria so has maintained his skill level, but has lost mobility with knee injuries. After losses in their first 3 games of the tournament, against Australia 1, Brazil 1, and U.S.A. 1, the team’s chances in the blustery conditions looked gone. However, desperation seemed to get Mraz’s joints working, and the team fought back to win the next 3 games, including the bronze medal playoff in a 3-setter against the Brazilian team who had defeated them earlier. The gold medal was won by the Australia 1 team, from U.S.A. 1.