Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 12, 2016 - After losing in the finals of their pool to a team from Russia, Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst had something to prove here Friday evening and the Dutch did that in delighting their followers with a “Sweet 16” win over Mexico in the men’s Beach Volleyball competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
With his team’s 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) win in 38 minutes over Lombardo Ontiveros and Juan Virgen of Mexico, Nummerdor has now advanced to the Olympic Beach Volleyball quarter-finals for the third-straight time with the first two being with Richard Schuill at the Beijing 2008 (fifth-place finish) and London 2012 (fourth) Summer Games.
The Dutch had the lead for much of the match with the key stretch for Nummerdor and Varenhorst being in the second set when a Mexico lead at 7-6 was erased by a five-point run to give the winners the lead for good.
Nummerdor and Varenhorst, who are now 3-0 against the Mexican for international matches, now await a Saturday evening match to learn their opponent with one of the possibilities being compatriots Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen, who will be challenged by Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk of Canada.
