The first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour event of the year is approaching its climax. Three teams from the United States, two from Japan and one each from Australia, Romania and host nation New Zealand reached the semifinals of the Mount Maunganui Futures. The semis and the medal matches will be played on Sunday, February 8, and will be streamed live on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel.

• Watch the Mount Maunganui Futures last competition day on the Beach Volleyball World channel

Sunday’s action in New Zealand will serve off at 08:30 local time (19:30 UTC on Saturday) and two American pairs will hit the sand court for the first men’s semifinal. In a duel for a spot in the final and on the podium, ninth-seeded Diego Perez & David Wieczorek, who came through from the qualifications, will take on fifth-seeded compatriots Gage Basey & Thomas Hurst, still undefeated at the tournament.

In the second men’s semifinal, third-seeded Solomon Bushby & Justin Schumann of Australia, who are yet to lose a set in Mount Maunganui, will meet seventh-seeded Nassim Malki & Yu Takuma of Japan. The match is set to start at 09:20 (20:20 -1 day).

Home favorites Shaunna Polley & Olivia MacDonald, the top-seeded team in the women’s main draw, made the semifinals without dropping a single set in the three matches played so far. Their semifinal opponents, 12^th-seeded qualifiers Kelly Belardi & Charlotta Bell of USA, also reached the last four on an impeccable run of straight-set wins, but in four matches played. The first women’s semifinal is scheduled at 10:10 (21:10 -1 day).

Unbeaten in three matches, third-seeded Romanians Beata Vaida & Francesca Alupei progressed to a semifinal clash with second-seeded Sakura Ito & Mayu Sawame of Japan. The Asian duo also scored three wins in three matches to get to the last competition day. The game is set to serve off at 11:00 (22:00 -1 day).

The men’s bronze medal match, the women’s bronze medal match, the men’s final and the women’s gold medal showdown, in that order, will be played in the afternoon, starting at 13:00 (00:00) and every hour on the hour after that.

Mount Maunganui Futures: schedule and results

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