Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Konstantin Semenov advanced to quarters finals on Friday, August 12, in men’s beach volleyball at Río 2016.
The Russians won over Qatar’s contestants Jefferson Santos Pereira and Cherif Younousse with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) score, which guaranteed them a place in quarters finals. Krasilnikov and Semenov became the first Russian beach volleyball team to move forward in the Olympic Games history. The Russian victory also meant the third international defeat of Jefferson and Cherif in front of their usual competitors, Krasilnikov and Semenov. Last March, both teams played against each other on Copacabana with another 2-0 set’s score for the Russians in a pool match at the Rio Grand Slam.
The Qatar’s competitors made history as the first beach volleyball team to qualify for the Rio Olympics. However, their accomplishment was quickly overshadowed when they lost against the Russians in the Round 16 at Rio.
Semenov also participated in London 2012 and shared the ninth-place finishers with Serguey Prokopyev. The team won one of three pool matches but was defeated in the Round 16 by the Americans Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal.
This time, Russia has an opportunity of improving its score at Olympic beach volleyball. Krasilnikov and Semenov will compete against the Cubans Nivaldo Diaz and Sergio Gonzalez, who defeated the Austrians Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst on Friday afternoon.
On the other hand, the Russian women’s team has also qualified for semifinals in Rio.
Women’s beach volleyball semifinals
The Brazilians Barbara Seixas de Freitas and Agatha Bednarczuk eliminated Fan Wang and Yuan Yue from China with 21-12, 21-16. The victory allowed them to advance to semifinals against the Russians Evgenia Ukolova and Ekaterina Birlova.
Birlova and Ukolova won the Round 16 against the Spaniards, who got 3-0 in pool play but did not find the same luck when they played with the Russians and lost with a 23-21, 24-22 score.
The U.S. competitors continue to be on top after defeating the Italians Marta Menegatti and Laura Giombini with 21-10, 21-16. The thirty-minute match put an end to the magnificent performance of the Italians at the Rio Olympics.
Viktoria Orsi Toth, who was supposed to be Menegatti’s partner at 2016’s games, was found positive for a banned substance and was quickly removed from the Italian team. Orsi Toth was then replaced by Giombini, who did a great job alongside her partner and finished 1-2 in pools.
Source: NBC