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04/03/2016

Road to Rio - 15 Men’s Olympic Tickets

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 3, 2016 - In less than a week, the dreams of playing beach volleyball on world-famous Copacabana will be fulfilled for most of the 127 men’s and women’s teams from 36 countries that are scheduled to play in the upcoming $800,000 Rio Grand Slam, the first Grand Slam event on the 2015-2016 FIVB World Tour calendar.

For 15 of those men’s pairs, the dreams of playing in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will come five months later if they qualify for the “List of 15” for the quadrennial event via the FIVB World Tour where the process began in January 2015 and ends in mid-June in Germany at the Hamburg Grand Slam.

Olympic Ranking - Men

OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION

The Rio Grand Slam will be the 20th of 30 Olympic qualifying events on the FIVB World Tour for men since April 2015 and the 19th of 28 for women. Excluding teams from host Brazil, the top 15 ranked pairs from the international circuit will qualify for the Rio Summer Games to be played at the same site as next week’s tournament. Since the start of qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, players from 58 countries have competed in FIVB World Tour events.

To qualify for the Olympics, a team must compete together in at least 12 FIVB World Tour events and/or recognized Continental championships from January 2015 through June 13, 2016. A team’s best 12 finishes will be used to determine a tandem’s ranking. A maximum of two teams per country is allowed to compete in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Five pairs for each gender’s Olympic competition will qualify via Continental Cup action where each FIVB confederation is guaranteed a berth in the Rio 2016 Summer Games. The last qualifying event will be July 6-10 when Russia hosts the FIVB World Continental Cup Olympic Qualification Tournament in Sochi. The top two tandems from each gender from the Continental Cup qualifier will earn the last two pairs in the 24-team Olympic competitions.

HOST BRAZIL

Brazil has already qualified two teams in each gender’s competition due to two pairs from the South American country winning the 2015 FIVB World Championships last July in the Netherlands (Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt and Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas). Being the host of the Rio Summer Games, Brazil was guaranteed two teams in the 24-team men’s and women’s fields (Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg and Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca).

With all that said, here is a review of the men’s competition by country for the leading candidates to fill the 15 vacancies via the FIVB World Tour. As previously stated, Brazil has already secured and named its four teams (two men and two women) for the Rio 2016 Games and cannot qualify another team through the FIVB World Tour. Therefore, the ranking list excludes Brazilians in the ranking order.

Austria - Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst, who qualified via the continental qualifying system for the London 2012 Olympic Games, are currently ranked eighth (4,220 points) with 10 participations to date. The Austrians will add another at least 160 points to their total at the Rio Grand Slam and need one more competition to satisfy the participation requirement.

Canada - Chaim Schalk and Ben Saxton have satisfied the participation requirement with 12 events to date as the pair ranks sixth on the provisional qualifying list (4,320). Schalk and Saxton will add at least 40 points to their total at the Rio Grand Slam by erasing their lowest score from an “open” event in Switzerland. Canadians outside of the top 15 with an opportunity to make the “List of 15” are Josh Binstock/Sam Schachter (No. 16 with 3,480 points for 11 participations). Binstock and Schachter will satisfy the participation requirement at the Rio Grand Slam and will add at least 160 points to their point total.

Chile - The Grimalt cousins (Esteban and Marco Grimalt) are No. 17 on the provisional list (3,370 points, 12 participations) and need to place 17th-or-higher in the Rio Grand Slam to improve their point total. The Grimalt’s benefited by winning the South American continental championships last year.

France - Youssef Krou and Edouard Rowlandson are No. 21 on the list (3,170 points, 11 participations) and will add another at least 40 points to their total. The French pair has to qualify Tuesday for the Rio Grand Slam Main Draw as they are projected No. 1-seeded team in the preliminary rounds. Krou and Rowlandson will satisfy the participation requirement on Copacabana next Tuesday.

Markus Böckermann and Lars Flüggen of Germany celebrate winning the Qatar Open final

Germany - On the strength seven “top 9” finishes in “open” events, Markus Böckermann and Lars Flüggen are ranked 10th on the provisional list (4,150) as the young Germans have satisfying the participation requirement. Böckermann and Flüggen need to place 17th-or-higher in the Rio Grand Slam to improve their point total. Jonathan Erdmann and Kay Matysik, who placed ninth at the London 2012 Olympic Games for Germany, are currently 18th on the provisional list (3,300, nine participations) and will add another at least 160 points to their total at the Rio Grand Slam. Erdmann and Matysik need two more competitions after the Rio Grand Slam to satisfy the participation requirement.

Italy – The pairs of Alex Ranghieri/Adrian Carambula (4,130 points) and Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai (3.960) are ranked 12th and 14th, respectively, on the Olympic provisional list. Ranghieri and Carambula have satisfied the participation requirement. The pair will add at least 80 points to their total at the Rio Grand Slam by erasing their lowest score from a “grand slam” event in Norway. Lupo and Nicolai, fifth-place finishers at the London 2012 Olympic Games, will satisfy the participation requirement at the Rio Grand Slam and will add at least 160 points to their point total.

Latvia - Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins are No. 3 on the provisional list (4,660 points) and will add at least 160 points to their total at the Rio Grand Slam as the Latvians satisfying their participation requirement. Smedins captured the bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games with Martins Plavins. Samoilovs placed ninth at both the Beijing 2008 (Plavins) and London 2012 (Ruslans Sorokins) Summer Games. Samoilovs and Smedins are the reigning European continental champions.

Mexico - Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros, who have satisfied the participation requirement, are ranked No. 15 on the provisional list (3,930 points). The Mexicans need to place ninth or higher at the Rio Grand Slam to improve their point total.

The Netherlands - The teams of Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (5,340 points) and Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst (4,920) are ranked No. 1 and 2 on the provisional list. Brouwer and Meeuwsen, the 2013 FIVB world champions, need to place 17th-or-higher in the Rio Grand Slam to improve their point total. Nummerdor and Varenhorst, who placed second to Alison and Bruno at the 2015 FIVB World Championships in The Hague, will satisfy the participation requirement at the Rio Grand Slam and will add at least 160 points to their point total. Nummerdor placed fifth at Beijing 2008 and fourth at the London 2012 Olympic Games with Richard Schuil.

Poland - The teams Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel (4,160 points) and Piotr Kantor/Bartosz/Losiak (4,060) rank ninth and 13th on the provisional list. While Kantor and Losiak, who must qualify for the Rio Grand Slam Main Draw, the young Poles have satisfied the participation requirement. The pair needs to place ninth or higher next week to improve their point total. Fijalek and Prudel, fifth-place finishers at the London 2012 Olympic Games, will satisfy the participation requirement at the Rio Grand Slam and will add at least 160 points to their point total.

Semenov

Russia's Konstantin Semenov serves

Russia - Konstantin Semenov and Viacheslav Krasilnikov are 11th on the provisional list (4,150 points) and have satisfied the participation requirement. The Russians need to place 17th-or-higher in the Rio Grand Slam to improve their point total. Like the Austrians, Semenov had to qualify for London via the Continental Cup when he was paired with Serguey Prokopyev and placed ninth at the 2012 Summer Games.

Spain - Adriana Gavira and Pablo Herrera are fifth on the Olympic provisional list (4,360 points). The Spaniards need to place ninth-or-higher in the Rio Grand Slam to improve their point total. Gavira and Herrera placed ninth at the London 2012 Summer Games. London was Herrera’s third Olympic appearance as he captured the silver medal at the Athens 2004 Summer Games and placed ninth with Raul Mesa at the Beijing 2008 competition.

Turkey - Murat Giginoglu and Volkan Gogtepe are No. 20 on the list (3,180 points) and have satisfied the participation requirement. The Turks need to place 17th-or-higher in the Rio Grand Slam to improve their point total.

United States - Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson (4,620 points) and Tri Bourne/John Hyden (4,240) are ranked fourth and seventh on the provisional list. Gibb, who placed fifth at both the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games with Sean Rosenthal, and Patterson will satisfy the participation requirement at the Rio Grand Slam and will add at least 160 points to their point total. Bourne and Hyden need to place 17th-or-higher in the Rio Grand Slam to improve their point total. Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena (4,100) are close to Bourne and Hyden with only eight participations. Dalhausser and Lucena will add another at least 160 points to their total at the Rio Grand Slam and need three more competitions to satisfy the participation requirement.

Venezuela - Jackson Henriquez and Jesus Villafane are No. 19 on the last (3,296 points) and have satisfied the participation requirement. Jackson and Fane need to place 17th-or-higher in the Rio Grand Slam to improve their point total.

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