New Zealand combination Tom Reid and Jack McManaway claimed their first Beach Pro Tour gold medal on Sunday at the Futures event held in Pirae, Tahiti.
Ranked 52 in the world, the Kiwi duo were the top-seeded combination heading into the event and they delivered on their billing, seeing off Japan’s Takumi Takahashi and Jumpei Ikeda 21-18, 21-18 in the final.
Earlier on Sunday, Reid and McManaway qualified for the gold medal match with a 21-9, 21-17 victory over the Ukrainian pair of Ivan Datsiuk and Ivan Likhatskyi.
After finishing second in Pool A, the Kiwis ousted Americans Mark Bucknam and Alex Ukkelberg on Saturday in the Round of 12 clash before edging Serbian sixth seeds Djordje Klasnic and Nemanja Komar 21-19, 21-19 later in the day in the last eight.
Reid and McManaway now move to the Asian Beach Tour with an event in Thailand next weekend.
Meanwhile, Oliva MacDonald and Danielle Quigley reached the quarter-finals of the Nuvali Open in the Philippines on the Asian Beach Tour.
The New Zealanders were beaten by Japanese combination Suzuka/Reika in the last eight, the same combination also accounting for Kiwis Katie Sadlier and Meile-Rose Green in the Round of 16.
James Sadlier and Juraj Krajci lost both their Pool B matches on the men’s side of the draw.
All three New Zealand pairings will play in the Beach Pro Tour Futures event in the Philippines this week.
