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The pair comprising Nomatter Mbizo and Viola Muchaoona had to be content with playing in the play-offs in which they faced the Cape Town duo of Judith Augoustides and Emma Wyncaard.
The Zimbabweans lost 0-2.
For their efforts, the Zimbabwean pair pocketed R2 800 in the challenge that saw more than 50 teams vying for honours.
Having gone into the competition as underdogs, Mbizo and Muchaoona emerged as a force to reckon with after winning all their round robin matches to book a place in the quarter finals.
The pair then summoned all their energy to power their way into the semi-final by upsetting the second seeded team during their quarter-final match.
However, their fine run to the final was cut short in the semi-finals when they failed to overpower the experienced South African based pair of Kirsten Tockock and Elizabeth Roucher who beat them 0-2.
“We are getting better and better with each outing. This tournament presented us with the first chance of playing in an open event and the experience is invaluable,” said Mbizo.
The other pair of Vuyiswa Dlomo and Christine Manyanya bowed out of the tournament in the quarter-finals.
Two of Zimbabwe’s men teams that also took part in the tournament in Nyasha Takawira and partner Simbarashe Chidziva and the pair of Kudakwashe Chizema and Abidan Katemanyoka found the going too tough and failed to secure berths in the quarter-finals.
“We have to work more on our combinations, tactics and endurance,” said Takawira.
Beach volleyball is a relatively new sport in Zimbabwe but the local teams have been riding high posting impressive results each time they have gone out.
This is the third time Zimbabwe has participated in an international tournament having competed during the Olympic qualifiers in Maputo last year and in the All-Africa Games qualifiers in Namibia in April.
Online Reporter