Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, January 18, 2010 -- Germany's world No. 4 Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig claimed the honours in the third leg of the New Zealand Beach Volleyball Tour, beating home favourites Anna Scarlett and Susan Blundell to win the Mount Maunganui stage on Sunday.

Goller and Ludwig, who claimed bronze medals at the Moscow and Marseille Grand Slam tournaments on the 2009 SWATCH FIVB World Tour, beat the Kiwi pair 21-15, 21-12 in the final.

Scarlett and Blundell, who are ranked 33rd in the world, had previously been on a two-leg winning streak on the tour and were looking to make it three tour victories out of three but Goller and Ludwig had other ideas after knocking out the 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medalist Tian Jia and her partner Wang Fei in the semi-final.

It is the second time the pair have won at Mount Maunganui, claiming victory in their last outing in the seaside town in 2006 and they move onto the final leg of the tour in Auckland on January 22, full of confidence.

In the men's competition Chinese pair Liu Wei & Jiang Zhi Feng edged out the young NZ combination of Michael Watson and Ben O'Dea 21-15, 19-21, 15-12 in the final.