World champions Krasilnikov and Stoyanovskiy rally for a place in last eight stage

Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai, who have qualified for their third Olympic Games, knocked out two former Katara Beach Volleyball Cup medallists and secured a spot in the quarter-finals of the 2020 edition on Wednesday.

At the Katara Cultural Village’s Amphitheatre, the fourth-seeded Italians first eliminated local stars and eighth seeds Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, who won the the 2018 bronze medal, 21-16, 21-18 in 34 minutes in the morning.

Later in the evening, they returned to the court to take on 2018 champions from the Netherlands – Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen – in their 20th career meeting.

Just as they had won their last clash to book their spot in the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallists Lupo and Nicolai handed a 21-19, 21-16 defeat to Brouwer and Meeuwsen, the bronze winner in Rio Games.

Twice fifth here, including last year, Lupo and Nicolai will clash with Americans Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb, the fifth seeds, for a place in the semi-finals on Thursday morning. Crabb and Gibb ousted 14th-seeded Russians Ilya Leshukov and Konstantin Semenov 21-19, 21-18.

Nicolai, who fired the match-winning smash to give his team an overall 11-9 edge and an 8-7 advantage on the FIVB Beach World Tour, said,”We’re delighted to get into the third eliminator. It is the same stage for us like the 2019 edition. It was a tough match and required a lot of efforts.

“We’ve been clashing with each other ever since our youth days. We all know one and other well so the clashes are always interesting. We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s match and hopefully, we’ll be able to improve our record in Qatar,” added Nicolai.

One of the toughest net players in the world, Nicolai has been playing with Lupo for 10 seasons and they had last won a Tour event in 2016 in Sochi. “The Tour is getting tougher each year. Lots of strong players are coming and helping raise the standard. It is also a big motivation for us to keep working hard and lifting our level.”

The Italians like coming to Qatar and playing here. “For a long time, this event has been taking place here. It is a stable event on the FIVB calendar. And when this tournament comes to the mind, we know what to expect here. The legacy is growing and we’re proud that we’re all part of it,” he said.

Earlier, world champions and top seeds Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy needed four match points to overcome Dutch Steven van de Velde and Christiaan Varenhorst 21-19, 28-26 in 49 minutes. In the pre-quarter clash, the Russians were 18-15 ahead in the second set before the 18th-seeded Dutch came back to force extra points.

Even van de Velds and Varenhorst also had four set points. With Stoyanovskiy, who finished second with Igor Velichiko in 2018 here, proving a difficult man to beat at the net, the Dutch could not convert them. After 26-26, Varenhorst had a net foul to give the match point to the Russians and then the tall Stoyanovskiy blocked van de Velde to seal the set and the match.

“We need to be more focused. Whatever advantages we created, we were not able to use that. We were obviously not at our best. This was the fourth time on the Tour we were playing them. Always they create problems for us and today’s match was just one of them,” said Stoyanovskiy after the 49-minute victory.

“We’re the current world champions and each team wants to beat us. We always make efforts to keep our level high. Last year, we were ninth here. So our primary goal was to do better this time. We’ve achieved it and will now try to do as good as we can,” added Stoyanovskiy, who also won the World Tour Finals in Rome last season as one of the biggest events on the FIVB schedule.

On Thursday, the opening quarter-final at 3 pm is quite interesting. Olympic and world champions will be seen in action as Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, the third-seeded Americans, clash with sixth seeds Evandro Goncalves and Bruno Oscar Schmidt from Brazil.

Dalhausser won the 2007 World Championship in Gstaad teaming up with Todd Rogers. The pair also emerged the champions at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Now the former is playing with Lucena and they were runners-up in Qatar twice – 2016 and 2019. Their team is quite successful on the Tour, having won nine of their 16 finals

Schmidt and Allison Cerutti were 2015 World and 2016 Olympic champions, while Goncalves bagged the World crown with André Stein two years later. Schmidt and Goncalves paired up last year and were 17th in their opening event – the Katara Cup. But they went on to claim three medals in the season, including the Four-Star Warsaw Open gold medal.

In the last 16 stage, the Americans disposed of Austrians Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller 21-16, 21-9. The Brazilians eliminated defending champions Esteban Grimalt and Marco Grimalt by 26-24, 21-17.

Results
Winner’s Bracket – Round 1
Daniele Lupo / Paolo Nicolai Italy (4) def. Cherif Samba / Ahmed Tijan Qatar (8) 21-16, 21-18 (0:34)
Ilya Leshukov / Konstantin Semenov Russia (14) def. Iaroslav Gordieiev / Sergiy Popov Ukraine (25, Q3) 21-14, 19-21, 15-9 (0:53)
Aleksandrs Samoilovs / Janis Smedins Latvia (16) def. Julius Thole / Sven Winter Germany (11) 21-16, 22-20 (0:40)
Sam Pedlow / Sam Schachter Canada (21) def. Lombardo Ontiveros / Juan Virgen Mexico (26, Q5) 17-21, 22-20, 15-13 (0:55)
Robin Seidl / Philipp Waller Austria (20) def. Piotr Kantor / Bartosz Losiak Poland (15) by Forfeit
Esteban Grimalt / Marco Grimalt Chile (17) def. Adrian Gavira / Pablo Herrera Spain (10) 23-25, 21-18, 15-13 (0:54)
Josue Gaxiola / Jose Rubio Mexico (28, Q8) def. Billy Allen / Stafford Slick United States (22, Q1) 21-15, 21-17 (0:37)
Steven van de Velde / Christiaan Varenhorst Netherlands (18) def. Martin Ermacora / Moritz Pristauz-Telsnigg Austria (19) 27-25, 21-13 (0:39)

Round 2
Daniele Lupo / Paolo Nicolai Italy (4) def. Alexander Brouwer / Robert Meeuwsen Netherlands (2) 21-19, 21-16 (0:33)
Taylor Crabb / Jake Gibb United States (5) def. Ilya Leshukov / Konstantin Semenov Russia (14) 21-19, 21-18 (0:35)
Michal Bryl / Grzegorz Fijalek Poland (7) def. Aleksandrs Samoilovs / Janis Smedins Latvia (16) 18-21, 29-27, 15-12 (1:01)
Nils Ehlers / Lars Fluggen Germany (13) def. Sam Pedlow / Sam Schachter Canada (21) 21-14, 26-24 (0:43)
Phil Dalhausser / Nick Lucena United States (3) def. Robin Seidl / Philipp Waller Austria (20) 21-16, 21-9 (0:30)
Evandro Goncalves / Bruno Oscar Schmidt Brazil (6) def. Esteban Grimalt / Marco Grimalt Chile (17) 26-24, 21-17 (0:45)
Josue Gaxiola / Jose Rubio Mexico (28, Q8) def. Tri Bourne / Trevor Crabb United States (9) 23-21, 8-21, 15-8 (0:48)
Viacheslav Krasilnikov / Oleg Stoyanovskiy Russia (1) def. Steven van de Velde / Christiaan Varenhorst Netherlands (18) 21-19, 28-26 (0:49)

Thursday’s fixtures
Round 3
3:00 pm
Phil Dalhausser / Nick Lucena United States (3) vs. Evandro Goncalves / Bruno Oscar Schmidt Brazil (6)
Josue Gaxiola / Jose Rubio Mexico (28, Q8) vs. Viacheslav
Krasilnikov / Oleg Stoyanovskiy Russia (1)

4:00 pm
Daniele Lupo / Paolo Nicolai Italy (4) vs. Taylor Crabb / Jake Gibb United States (5)
Michal Bryl / Grzegorz Fijalek Poland (7) vs. Nils Ehlers / Lars Fluggen Germany (13)

Semi-finals
6:30 pm – First semi-final
7:45 pm – Second semi-final