Manhattan Beach Field Wide Open

One of the winners at the Michelob Light Manhattan Beach tournament will be ...

Sinjin Smith, a 44-year-old veteran who is calling it quits after the tournament, which starts today and ends Sunday.

Or maybe Karch Kiraly, 40, another sentimental favorite who has been sidelined because of injuries but played his first tournament of the season last week at Santa Barbara.

Or possibly Eric Fonoimoana, a gold medalist at the Sydney Olympics who split with partner Dain Blanton because they’d won only one tournament since stunning the volleyball world last September.

It won’t be Blanton, who is sidelined because of a pulled abdominal muscle.

But the winning duo could be Kevin Wong and Stein Metzger, who combined for their first Assn. of Volleyball Professionals title last week.

To say the least, the men’s field is wide open.

“There’s probably 10 or 15 teams that could potentially win,” Smith said. “Anybody could be a surprise.”

Smith has won 139 tournaments, second only to Kiraly’s 142, and will play with former Pepperdine All-American George Roumain. One of the most recognizable names in volleyball history, Smith has been slowed by a sore right knee and has won only $20,213 this season.

“I feel like I can compete with anyone ... given the right partner who can carry me,” Smith said.

Smith has won the Manhattan Beach Open six times, most recently in 1989 with Randy Stoklos. He has finished second six times.

Kiraly was sidelined for nearly a year while rehabilitating a separated shoulder and an Achilles’ heel injury but returned last week to play in his hometown. He finished ninth with Scott Ayakatubby.

Kiraly always seem to play his best at Manhattan Beach, having won eight times, five in the 1990s.

Fonoimoana, who won a May tournament in Oceanside with Blanton but is winless since, will partner with Rob Heidger.

The women’s tournament may run truer to form. Then again ...

Barbra Fontana and Elaine Youngs have won three tournaments this season, among them international events in Italy and France.

But Liz Masakyan and Dianne DeNecochea won the Santa Barbara Open last week as the seventh-seeded team, defeating Fontana and Youngs in an 88-minute semifinal on the way to the title.

Also entered are Holly McPeak and Lisa Arce, still acclimating after a two-month trek on the international tour. McPeak and Arce were seeded first last week but lost to eighth-seeded Jennifer Meredith and Wendy Stammer in the semifinals.

“We’re a little bit more on the tired side, physically,” McPeak said. “We have some good young teams that are training hard and getting better every week. We need to push ourselves.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Pro Beach Volleyball

What: Michelob Light Manhattan Beach Open

Where: Manhattan Beach Pier

When: Today through Sunday

Top men’s teams: Dax Holdren and Todd Rogers; Stein Metzger and Kevin Wong; Canyon Ceman and Mike Whitmarsh.

Top women’s teams: Holly McPeak and Lisa Arce; Barbra Fontana and Elaine Youngs; Leanne Schuster and Nancy Mason.