Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 13, 2016 - Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen cemented a spot for The Netherlands in the men’s Beach Volleyball “final four” at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games here Saturday evening by defeating Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk of Canada in two sets at the “Coliseu on Copacabana”.
Before Brouwer and Meeuwsen’s 2-0 (21-12, 21-15) win in 37 minutes over Saxton and Schalk, Reinder Nummerdor and Christian Varenhorst secured The Netherlands’ first berth in the quarter-finals with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) “Sweet 16” win in 37 minutes Friday over Lombardo Ontiveros and Juan Virgen of Mexico.
The two Dutch teams will meet Monday for a spot in the Rio Olympic semi-finals as Nummerdor will be seeking his second-straight trip to the “final four” after teaming with Richard Schuill to place fourth in the London 2012 Summer Games. Nummerdor will also be playing in his third-straight Olympic quarter-final as he and Schuill placed fifth at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Brouwer and Meeuwsen lead the international series with Nummerdor and Varenhorst 3-2, but were defeated by their Dutch rivals when the two teams met at the end of May in Moscow by winning a three-set quarter-final match. The next day, Nummerdor and Varenhorst captured the FIVB World Tour stop in the Russian capital by defeating Brazilians Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt in the finals.
The 2013 FIVB world championships, Brouwer and Meeuwsen were meeting the Canadians Saturday for the first-time this season. Saxton and Schalk had defeated the Dutch pair twice in 2014 at FIVB World Tour stops in the United States and Brazil and once last season in Moscow.
The fourth meeting between the two teams was dominated by Brouwer and Meeuwsen with only two ties at 1-1 and 2-2 in the second set. In the opening set, the jumped to a 5-0 lead and led 6-1, 10-5, 14-7 and 18-10 at each side switch. The Dutch broke from the 2-2 tie in the second set to take 6-2 lead that increased to 15-9 and 17-10 before the end.
