Olympic Games 2016 - Rio de Janeiro - Beach Volleyball

  • I jus[quote='TimHH','index.php?page=Thread&postID=323220#post323220']Quarterfinals:


    Allison/Bruno vs. Dalhauser/Lucena (21 CET)
    Nummerdor/Varenhorst vs. Brouwer/Meeuwsen (22 CET)
    Nicolai/Lupo vs. Liamin/Barsuk (04 CET)
    Semenov/Krasilnikov vs. Diaz/Gonzalez (05 CET)


    USA vs. Brazil already in the quarters. Given the overall eveness of the men's field i would not consider this match an early final but for sure that is going to be the emotional highlight so far for this tournament. :super:
    I admit i haven't seen much of the tournament, so my predictions are rather "out of stomach" and of personal preference (i want to see Reinder with a medal :teach: )


    My pick for the semis:


    Lucena/Dalhauser vs. Nummerdor/Varenhorst
    Nicolai/Lupo vs. Semenov/Krasilnikov[/quo


    I just read your post now, and for you not picking Alison/Bruno for the semis it reallys shows u haven't been watching beach volleyball at all ololololo :lol:


    Alison and Bruno are the defending World Champion , ranked 1 and clearly favorites for gold, and Alison is still playing with a ankle injured.
    And both dutch teams along with Evandro and Pedro were favorite to reach the semis and challenge Alison and Bruno.


    The semi Alison/Bruno vs Brouwer/Meeuwsen was supposed to be the final and not the semi final X( ;( ;(

  • I just read your post now, and for you not picking Alison/Bruno for the semis it reallys shows u haven't been watching beach volleyball at all ololololo :lol:


    Alison and Bruno are the defending World Champion , ranked 1 and clearly favorites for gold, and Alison is still playing with a ankle injured.
    And both dutch teams along with Evandro and Pedro were favorite to reach the semis and challenge Alison and Bruno.


    The semi Alison/Bruno vs Brouwer/Meeuwsen was supposed to be the final and not the semi final X( ;( ;(


    :thumbup:
    Thanks for your expertise. I still don't know how i could give Dalhauser/Lucena a decent chance in this match considering how badly they played this year. Allison/Bruno, especially Allison, really played overwhelmingly well this year on tour.....

  • No, Russia won in 2-1. Its gonna be Italy vs Russia and Brazil vs Holland


    Ahahaha it seems I was less awake than I thought xD
    The reactions of the players really seemed to indicate the opposite ^^'


    Ps how unlucky for Italians fan, our couple plays at 4.00 am in Italy while the other semi is at 22.00... Why in beach volleyball Brazil doesn't play the last match?

  • Brazil already had 2 spots guarantee for the Olympics. And it would be decided by the CBV and not based on the world ranking only. Once Alison and Bruno were more focused on the Brazilian Tour ( which is really strong) and not on the world tour after they were chosen by the CBV to be in the OG.
    And they used the Tour as preparation only, and did not play all of them.…while other teams had to win in the world tour to get points and qualify to the OG.


    Grand Slam are more important than "open". Phil/Lucena only won open and never made to a semi final at a Grand Slam. While Alison/Bruno did not win, they got 2nd twice, and
    Nummerdor/Varenhorst, Kantor/lLosiak(POL) and Samoilovs/Smedins(LAT) won a Grand Slam.
    _--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    The Cuban duo had 13-10 in the tie break, but the Russians made a great come back.

  • Becau


    Ahahaha it seems I was less awake than I thought xD
    The reactions of the players really seemed to indicate the opposite ^^'


    Ps how unlucky for Italians fan, our couple plays at 4.00 am in Italy while the other semi is at 22.00... Why in beach volleyball Brazil doesn't play the last match?


    R
    Because the indoor volleyball is playing at 10:30pm. The the main TV Chanel in Brazil gives indoor priority. They show beach during the day and indoor at night.But the final is at midnight, so I don't know what they will do, maybe change the time if Brazil makes it or another Chanel would show the Beach volleyball.

  • Grand Slam are more important than "open". Phil/Lucena only won open and never made to a semi final at a Grand Slam. While Alison/Bruno did not win, they got 2nd twice, and
    Nummerdor/Varenhorst, Kantor/lLosiak(POL) and Samoilovs/Smedins(LAT) won a Grand Slam.

    You forgot the Major Series which has, by ranking points and prize money, the same or an even higher value as a Grand Slam. Phil and Nick won in Hamburg and made it to another final (Gstaad?), if i remember right.


    But lets not surf on this topic further more. I never ruled out that Alison/Bruno are able to beat the US team. It would, in deed, be very stupid to do so. But imho, the same was valid vice versa.
    I just hope that they can go through and take it all now. They are very likeable chaps as i could experience first hand during their stay in Hamburg. :thumbup:

  • Unbelievable, what was that? :white:
    1:0 and 20:17 and then it was choking time for Mammuth. :wall:

  • Alison/Bruno should have ended this in two sets, but so it has still become a nail biter. Credit to the dutch team for staying patient and waiting for their chance but for me the right team won it.
    i am especially happy that with Bruno, the probably overall most gifted player on tour made it to the final. Well done Mr. Schmidt :thumbup:

  • Nicolai/Lupo!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D
    Historical olympic final and medal – of whatever color it will be – for Italian beach volley (as it was the semifinal), you deserved it all guys! That coming back after the first set in which Lupo could put down a ball (neither digs, often), massive! <3
    I'm so, so happy!!


    Ps now I'm watching it on tv with the Italian commentators. Since they didn't notice (probably thanks to the regia), I want to underline that in the first set – when the referees changed from 11-17 for Russia to 12-16 for Italy thinking they did a mistake counting the points – Nicolai went to the referee and said it was 11-17.
    I'm very proud of them, probably the less-complaining Italian team ever :P

  • They were blessed with a very lucky draw: Dalhausser-Lucena, Brouwer-Meeuwsen and Alison-Bruno on bottom half, Russians eliminating Evandro-Pedro and Diaz-Gonzalez on top half.


    Anyway Nicolai-Lupo are hardly nobodies, they were 5th in London 2012 and have always remained in the world top 10 since then.

  • Yeah, I think you are both right.
    Among the semifinalist, Nicolai seemed to me – that I'm not a beach expert1 – the less strong blocker (in the semi he blocked once more than the Russian, but in the first set Lupo rarely spiked hard, trying to avoid the block with his tips and getting easily digged over and over.)


    Still, they are the European champions (as in 2014), so it feels kinda right for them to be the first european team in the OG final standing.


    Of cours Allison and Bruno remain the highly favorites, if the can cope with the pressure.

  • Congrats to Italian team but they are the weakest finalist of Olympics beach volley history. This year the level is no where near to previous additions


    I admit that i can't say anything smart about Nicolai/Lupo. So far they were somehow flying under my radar but, like vabo said, results show over the years that they can very much compete with the best. Still, if Alison plays like he did until 20:17 in second set, it is going to be difficult for them.


    Regarding your second set, keep in mind that in round 16 and quarters we had crazy wind conditions, so the technical level might have suffered a bit.


    Generally i would rather say that, overall, men's beachvolleyball has never been on such a high level like today. There are much more nations who are running serious programs now, compared to 10-15 years ago. Poland, Italy, Netherlands, Latvia, Canada, Austria and other nations are all putting at least two decent teams in the mix which are all working very professionally. So, overall, the field is just very balanced and even the best teams have to fight/play well for almost every win. :teach:

  • I stopped following beach volley for the last few years. However, I watched the SF and final games, and I don't remember Alison was such a poor player technically speaking. He just can't score with a cut, and I wonder if by times the brazilian tactic was to give the ball to the opponents and bet on a block or a dig by the magnificient Bruno. Anyway big congrats to them :flower:


    By the way, do Bruno and Alison like each other outside the court ? On the last two matches they don't even celebrate the victory together !

  • They do like each other, I just saw a video about them, they are close friends and choose to live in the same city to train. I will post the video if I can find.


    And they spend so much time together, and once they are playing at home and all family and friends are there, they just run to them first.

    But we never know, Juliana and Larissa don't even talk to each other anymore.


    Finally a GOLD for Brazil in beach volleyball again.


    Alison is playing injured. He was something on his ankle.