South Africa's beach volleyball players kept their chances of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympic Games alive through their gutsy play in Maputo. 

The two men's teams were jointly second with the women finishing third. The next qualifying tournament will possibly be played over the Easter weekend.

Natasha Webber and Nicky Wenhold astonished their much younger opponents with how they played. The 38-year-old Tuks players were victorious against eSwatini and Zambia.

Their game against Mozambique turned out to be a humdinger. The home team was only able to edge out the South Africans in a tightly contested third set. 

"Afterwards, the Mozambique players could not believe that we are 38. It felt to them as if they were playing against twentysomethings. We take it as a compliment. Especially considering they are only 19 and 21, respectively," explained Webber. 

"I can't help but be excited about seeing the calibre of young beach volleyball players in Africa. Things have certainly changed from the last time Nicky and I played internationally. Mozambique runs a national program which enables its players to train nearly full time. They are starting to reap the rewards. Their men, as well as women's teams, were now victorious. The women are also the Zone 6 indoor champions."

In spite of their excellent showing in Maputo, there is no guarantee that the Tuks players will get to play the second qualifying tournament. 

"The team selection is up to the National Volleyball selectors. They might decide to make some changes, but Nicky and I are not going to worry about what may happen or not happen.  We are going to keep on training as if we will be playing. I believe we are capable of playing even better. If we should miss out on being selected, we would at least have the satisfaction knowing we contributed in a small way to maybe helping a team qualify for the Olympics,” Webber said.

The other South African women's beach volleyball combination is Randy Williams and Anneeta Frederiksen (Western Cape).

The men's teams are Leo Williams who is based in the Western Cape as well as the Czech Republic) and Shaien Govender who plays in KZN as well as Australia; Jerome Frederick (Western Cape) and Jonas Mothlobi (KZN). Loet Groenewald is the coach.