Rio de Janeiro, August 15, 2016 - It will be a double dutch delight as Netherlands battles Netherlands when Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst takes on Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen in an all-Dutch Quarterfinal on day ten. The two teams have met five times on the FIVB World Tour with 2013 World Champions, Brouwer/Meeuwsen holding a 3-2 advantage, but Nummerdor/Varenhorst have won the only meeting in 2016 in the quarterfinals at the Moscow Grand Slam in May. The winner will advance to the semi-finals, and the loser will be eliminated with a 5th-place finish.
Head to Head
Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen have won three of the five meetings on the FIVB World Tour, but Nummerdor/Varenhorst won the only match in 2016 back in May.
• Nummerdor/Varenhorst won 21-17 and 26-24 in 37 minutes, Moscow Grand Slam, Quarterfinals, 05/28/2016
• Brouwer/Meeuwsen won 21-19 and 21-14 in 40 minutes, SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals, Quarterfinals, 10/03/2015
• Brouwer/Meeuwsen won 21-16, 16-21, and 15-13 in 45 minutes, Gstaad Major Series, Round of 24, 07/11/2015
• Nummerdor/Varenhorst won 21-17, 21-23, and 15-13 in 51 minutes, Porec Major, Pool Play, 06/04/2015
• Brouwer/Meeuwsen won 17-21, 21-15, and 15-13 in 44 minutes, Stare Jablonki Grand Slam, Pool Play, 08/21/2014
Historically the #2 and the #5 seed have never played in the Olympic Games.
Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands, Seed #5, Pool E, 2-1, 2nd Place, Qualified 5th with 5,960 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Reinder: September 10, 1976 (39y11m5d), 194 cm (6'4"), 87 kg (193 lbs.), Hometown IJsselmuiden, 101st FIVB World Tour event (ranks 69th), 12 gold medals (ranks 13th), $643,687 career winnings (ranks 19th)
• Christiaan: May 6, 1990 (26y3m9d), 212 cm (6'11-1/2"), 106 kg (235 lbs.), Hometown Valthermond, 63rd FIVB World Tour event, three gold medals, $299,262 career winnings (ranks 68th)
• Reinder and Christiaan have been playing together since 2014. They are playing in their 23rd FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together, three gold medals, $388,125 career winnings (ranks 48th).
• Reinder has played in 27 FIVB World Tour final fours with 12 gold, seven silver, two bronze medals and six 4th place finishes.
• Christiaan has played in eight FIVB World Tour final fours with three gold, two silver, one bronze medal and two 4th place finishes.
• Reinder and Christiaan have played in four Final Fours in 2015-2016 (4th Porec Major 2015, Silver St. Petersburg Grand Slam 2015, Silver World Championships 2015, Gold Moscow Grand Slam 2016).
• Reinder finished 5th in the Olympic Games in 2008 (Beijing) and 4th in 2012 (London), both with Richard Schuil.
• Reinder and Christiaan won the silver medal in the FIVB World Championships in 2015 (The Hague).
• Reinder finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2007 (Gstaad) 17th in 2009 (Stavanger) 17th in 2011 (Rome) and 17th in 2013 (Stare Jablonki), all with Richard Schuil.
• Christiaan finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships with Daan Spijkers in 2013 (Stare Jablonki).
• Reinder and Christiaan are currently ranked 17th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 3,380 points and 10th in winnings with $120,125.
• Reinder and Christiaan have a career 85-40 (68.0%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 69-37 (65.1%) record in 2015-16. Excluding forfeits, they are 52-14 (78.8%) in two sets and 30-23 (56.6%) in three sets, including 70-15 (82.4%) when winning the 1st set and 12-22 (35.3%) when losing the 1st set.
• Reinder and Christiaan won the bronze medal at the European (CEV) Continental Championships in 2015 (Klagenfurt, Austria) and one other gold medal on the CEV Continental Tour in 2014.
• Reinder won the gold medal at the CEV Continental Championships in 2008 (Hamburg, Germany), 2009 (Sochi, Russia) and 2010 (Berlin, Germany) along with four other gold medals, three silver medals and four bronze medals on the CEV Continenal Tour from 2006-11, all with Richard Schuill and one bronze medal with Jon Stiekema in 2011.
• Reinder is tied with Switzerland's Martin Laciga and Germany's Julius Brink for the most CEV Continental Tour gold medals with eight.
• Christiaan won the silver medal at the U21 World Championships with Alexander Brouwer in 2008 (Brighton, England).
• Reinder was named the FIVB World Tour Best Defensive Player in 2009 and 2011.
• Christiaan was named the FIVB World Tour Top Rookie in 2012 and Best Hitter in 2015.
• Christiaan is the tallest player to compete in any of the six Olympic games at 212 cm (6'11-1/2").
• Pool E: Defeated Esteban Grimalt/Marco Grimalt, Chile (20), 21-16 and 21-13 in 39 minutes.
• Pool E: Defeated Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland (17), 21-17, 19-21, and 15-9 in 47 minutes.
• Pool E: Lost to Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov, Russia (8), 15-21, 21-14, and 9-15 in 45 minutes.
• Round of 16: Defeated Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen, Mexico (15), 21-18 and 21-15 in 37 minutes.
Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands, Seed #2, Pool B, 3-0, 1st Place, Qualified 2nd with 6,470 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Alexander: November 3, 1989 (26y9m12d), 198 cm (6'6"), 88 kg (195 lbs.), Hometown Leiden, 70th FIVB World Tour event, two gold medals, $314,050 career winnings (ranks 61st)
• Robert: March 21, 1988 (28y4m25d), 207 cm (6'9"), 92 kg (204 lbs.), Hometown Nieuwegein, 61st FIVB World Tour event, two gold medals, $305,862 career winnings (ranks 66th)
• Alexander and Robert have been playing together since 2011. They are playing in their 59th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 42nd), two gold medals, $611,725 career winnings (ranks 27th).
• Alexander has played in 13 FIVB World Tour final fours with two gold, five silver, three bronze medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Robert has played in 13 FIVB World Tour final fours with two gold, five silver, three bronze medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Alexander and Robert have played in 10 Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Silver Fuzhou Open 2015, Silver Lucerne Open 2015, Gold Porec Major 2015, Bronze Gstaad Major 2015, 4th Long Beach Grand Slam 2015, 4th World Tour Finals 2015, Silver Puerto Vallarta Open 2015-16, Bronze Rio de Janeiro Grand Slam 2016, Bronze Vitória Open 2016, Silver Hamburg Major 2016).
• Alexander and Robert won the gold medal in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and finished 17th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Alexander and Robert are currently ranked 9th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 4,190 points and 5th in winnings with $148,375.
• Alexander and Robert have a career 179-102 (63.7%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 89-33 (73.0%) record in 2015-16. Excluding forfeits, they are 120-52 (69.8%) in two sets and 54-47 (53.5%) in three sets, including 144-30 (82.8%) when winning the 1st set and 30-69 (30.3%) when losing the 1st set.
• Alexander won the silver medal at the U21 World Championships with Christiaan Varenhorst in 2008 (Brighton, England).
• Alexander and Robert won one silver medal and one bronze medal on the European (CEV) Continental Tour in 2012-15.
• Pool B: Defeated Dmitri Barsouk/Nikita Liamin, Russia (23), 21-15 and 21-14 in 37 minutes.
• Pool B: Defeated Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen, Germany (14), 21-19, 17-21, and 16-14 in 58 minutes.
• Pool B: Defeated Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland (11), 21-19 and 21-19 in 39 minutes.
• Round of 16: Defeated Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk, Canada (16), 21-12 and 21-15 in 37 minutes.