Consistency is the key for beach volleyballers Sam O'Dea and Mike Watson as they look to kick-start their form on the world stage.

Ahead of June's World Championships in the Netherlands, the Mount Maunganui duo have immersed themselves in the Asian Tour, completing two events in Thailand.

Sam O'Dea and Mike Watson head to China for the World Tour after some strong showings in Asia. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

But slow starts to both tournaments, which saw them lose their first games to lower seeds in pool play, left them taking the 'hard road” to the final, playing an extra game.

O'Dea says in their first game in Tung Song, the duo were out-served by an athletic Indonesian team, leaving them frustrated.

'This game was a catalyst for us to be more aggressive on the serve and proved invaluable as we went on to win four straight games on the way to the semi-final,” says Sam.

But lining up against a strong Chinese side, they were unable to pull out a win.

After a quick turnaround O'Dea and Watson claimed their first medal as a team on the Asian Tour, edging Japan in a close three-set battle.

Their second event started in similar fashion, as they lost the first game before Watson spent the night in hospital battling a fever – only making it back to the venue an hour before the start of their semi-final.

Playing Iran in a marathon match that lasted more than an hour in over 35 degree heat, some solid play at the end of the match swung it in the Kiwis' favour, and a ticket the final was theirs.

Again playing a Chinese side in the final, the pair had a good game plan and were able to put them under pressure with their serve and defence. But they were unable to hold out and lost the game in two sets.

'Even without a win, it has been our most successful Asian tour yet,” says Sam, 'and our constant play has made us the tour leaders being the only team to reach the semi-finals in both events.”

New Zealand's top men's beach volleyball side were in impressive form this summer, winning back-to-back New Zealand Open titles, along with the Oceania Championships in Manly, Australia last November.

They now travel to Fuzhou, China to compete in their first World Tour event of the year. The new season sees 65 men's teams from 31 countries and 57 women's teams from 25 countries officially entered in a talented field.

The 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour schedule will include five FIVB Grand Slams, the new Swatch FIVB Major Series of four events, six FIVB Opens and a special Swatch FIVB World Tour Season Final in the United States.

The showcase event will be the $1 million, 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in the Netherlands.

A total of 15 countries will host events this year as the 2015 FIVB World Tour also begins the Olympic qualification process.

All FIVB World Tour events (except the FIVB World Tour Finals) in 2015 up until June 13, 2016 count towards the Olympic Ranking in order to determine 15 spots for each gender that will take part in each 24-team field in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.