Fonoimoana, Wong Serve Olympic Notice

The Athens Olympics are a year away, but the United States men’s team that might have the best shot at a gold medal won the Manhattan Beach Open on Sunday.

It was their first tournament together and they practiced only 4 1/2 hours last week, but Eric Fonoimoana and Kevin Wong defeated Jose Loiola and Eduardo “Anjinho” Bacil, 25-23, 21-18, 15-13, to win the latest tournament on the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour Nissan Series.

Wong had 27 kills, Fonoimoana had 17 digs and, hey, who needs practice time anyway?

One week after splitting up with their former partners, Fonoimoana and Wong looked as if they had been together for years in a final that resonated with high-pressure international play.

Three of the four players were in the Sydney Olympics: Fonoimoana won a gold medal, Wong tied for fifth and Loiola was ninth while playing for Brazil.

On this day, two Olympians were better than one.

Fonoimoana, who attended nearby Manhattan Beach Mira Costa High and lives in Hermosa Beach, won at Manhattan for the second consecutive year.

“This is a very special one,” he said. “It’s up there with the Olympics. I get to play in front of friends and family. I rode my bike here. I’m riding my bike home.”

Fonoimoana and Wong have a few hurdles to clear before they get to Athens. Because they are a new team, they are getting a late start in the arduous, 14-month Olympic qualifying process that began in June. Teams can make the Olympics only by successfully competing in international tournaments.

Fonoimoana and Wong will lose all the qualifying points they had accrued the last two months with their former partners, Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger, respectively.

“We have many things to work on,” Fonoimoana said. “That’s the best way to focus on the Olympics.”

With the exception of a listless 21-18, 21-18 loss to Canyon Ceman and Mike Whitmarsh in Saturday’s third round, Fonoimoana and Wong were steady in clutch time.

They knocked off Ceman and Whitmarsh in the semifinals in nail-nipping fashion, 15-21, 24-22, 19-17, and had barely 30 minutes of rest before taking the court for the NBC-televised final. The temperature on the sand was in the mid-90s.

“I was terrible in Game 1,” said Wong, who had three hitting errors in the game but only one the rest of the way. “I finally found my game again in Game 2.”

Loiola, an energetic, crowd-engaging player who was playing in an AVP tournament for the first time since 2000, revealed a few surprises after the match.

The AVP’s most valuable player in 1997, Loiola said he had been granted dual citizenship and would try to make the 2008 Olympics as a U.S. player.

Loiola, 34, had been struggling to make the Athens Olympics on a Brazilian team. His best finish this year on the Olympic-qualifying tour was ninth.

Loiola, who has homes in Brazil and Manhattan Beach, said he will no longer try to make next year’s Olympics and will play solely on the AVP tour.

Loiola and Bacil were trying to become the first team in Manhattan Beach Open history to lose in the first round and still win the championship. It almost happened.

Loiola and Bacil trailed in the third game of the championship match, 13-10, closed to within 13-12, but ultimately lost on a cross-court kill by Fonoimoana.