Rio de Janeiro, August 16, 2016 - Italy's Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, lucky loser survivors, square off against the pool E winners, Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov of Russia in the second men's semi-final on day eleven. The two teams have met six times on the FIVB World Tour, with each team winning three times; however, the Italians have won two of three in 2016. The winner will advance to the gold medal match, and the loser will play for the bronze medal.
Head to Head
The two teams have split their six meetings on the FIVB World Tour with three wins each. The Italians have won two of the three matches in 2016.
• Lupo/Nicolai won 21-15 and 21-18 in 36 minutes, Sochi Open, Gold Medal, 05/08/2016
• Krasilnikov/Semenov won 21-18, 16-21, and 15-12 in 48 minutes, Sochi Open, Pool Play, 05/05/2016
• Lupo/Nicolai won 17-21, 21-17, and 15-12 in 44 minutes, Fuzhou Open, Round of 16, 04/22/2016
• Lupo/Nicolai won 21-18, 15-21, and 15-13 in 55 minutes, Sochi Open, Bronze Medal, 09/13/2015
• Krasilnikov/Semenov won 17-21, 21-18, and 16-14 in 58 minutes, FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships 2015, Round of 24, 07/01/2015
• Krasilnikov/Semenov won 21-19 and 21-14 in 0 minutes, Moscow Grand Slam, Semi-finals, 06/15/2014
Historically the #8 seed won the only match against the #10 seed in the Olympic Games.
• John Child/Mark Heese (8), Canada def. Francisco Alvarez/Juan Rossell (10), Cuba, 15-4 in 30 minutes, Contender's Bracket Round 4, Atlanta (1996).
Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, Seed #10, Pool C, 1-2, 3rd Place, Qualified 10th with 5,220 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Daniele: May 6, 1991 (25y3m10d), 195 cm (6'5"), 80 kg (178 lbs.), Hometown Rome, 62nd FIVB World Tour event, three gold medals, $312,487 career winnings (ranks 63rd)
• Paolo: August 6, 1988 (28y0m10d), 203 cm (6'8"), 91 kg (202 lbs.), Hometown Ortona, 82nd FIVB World Tour event, three gold medals, $358,412 career winnings (ranks 55th)
• Daniele and Paolo have been playing together since 2011. They are playing in their 58th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 46th), three gold medals, $620,175 career winnings (ranks 25th).
• Daniele has played in 15 FIVB World Tour final fours with three gold, five silver, five bronze medals and two 4th place finishes.
• Paolo has played in 15 FIVB World Tour final fours with three gold, five silver, five bronze medals and two 4th place finishes.
• Daniele and Paolo have played in four Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Bronze Sochi Open 2015, Silver Vitória Open 2016, Silver Fuzhou Open 2016, Gold Sochi Open 2016).
• Daniele and Paolo finished 5th in the Olympic Games in 2012 (London).
• Daniele and Paolo finished 9th in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and 17th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Daniele finished 33rd in the FIVB World Championships with Andrea Tomatis in 2011 (Rome).
• Paolo finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2009 (Stavanger) and 9th in 2011 (Rome), both with Matteo Martino.
• Daniele and Paolo are currently ranked 22nd in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 3,120 points and 20th in winnings with $70,575.
• Daniele and Paolo have a career 204-102 (66.7%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 67-38 (63.8%) record in 2015-16. Excluding forfeits, they are 131-53 (71.2%) in two sets and 69-48 (59.0%) in three sets, including 164-23 (87.7%) when winning the 1st set and 36-78 (31.6%) when losing the 1st set.
• Daniele and Paolo won the gold medal at the European (CEV) Continental Championships in 2014 (Cagliari, Italy) and 2016 (Biel, Switzerland).
• Paolo won the silver medal at the U19 World Championships with Francesco Giontella in 2006 (Bermuda, Bermuda).
• Paolo won the gold medal at the U21 World Championships in 2007 (Modena, Italy) and 2008 (Brighton, England), both with Francesco Giontella.
• Paolo Nicolai was named the FIVB World Tour Most Improved Player in 2012 and Best Offensive Player in 2014.
• Pool C: Lost to Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen, Mexico (15), 21-14, 14-21, and 11-15 in 48 minutes.
• Pool C: Defeated Choaib Belhaj/Mohamed Naceur, Tunisia (22), 21-17 and 21-13 in 35 minutes.
• Pool C: Lost to Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States (3), 13-21, 21-17, and 22-24 in 60 minutes.
• Lucky Loser: Defeated Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland (11), 21-12, 15-21, and 15-13 in 41 minutes.
• Round of 16: Defeated Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri, Italy (12), 21-12 and 23-21 in 40 minutes.
• Quarterfinals: Defeated Dmitri Barsouk/Nikita Liamin, Russia (23), 21-18, 20-22, and 15-11 in 50 minutes.
Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov, Russia, Seed #8, Pool E, 3-0, 1st Place, Qualified 9th with 5,230 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Viacheslav: April 28, 1991 (25y3m19d), 196 cm (6'5"), 73 kg (162 lbs.), Hometown Gelengzik, 34th FIVB World Tour event, one gold medal, $176,387 career winnings
• Konstantin: June 9, 1989 (27y2m7d), 210 cm (6'11"), 100 kg (222 lbs.), Hometown Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan, 74th FIVB World Tour event, two gold medals, $269,362 career winnings (ranks 77th)
• Viacheslav and Konstantin have been playing together since 2013. They are playing in their 32nd FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together, one gold medal, $340,775 career winnings (ranks 52nd).
• Viacheslav has played in nine FIVB World Tour final fours with one gold, three silver, two bronze medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Konstantin has played in 10 FIVB World Tour final fours with two gold, three silver, two bronze medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Viacheslav and Konstantin have played in five Final Fours in 2015-2016 (4th Yokohama Grand Slam 2015, 4th Sochi Open 2015, 4th Xiamen Open 2016, Silver Sochi Open 2016, Bronze Hamburg Major 2016).
• Konstantin finished 9th in the Olympic Games with Serguey Prokopyev in 2012 (London).
• Viacheslav and Konstantin finished 9th in the FIVB World Championships in 2015 (The Hague).
• Konstantin finished 9th in the FIVB World Championships in 2011 (Rome) and 9th in 2013 (Stare Jablonki), both with Yaroslav Koshkarev.
• Viacheslav and Konstantin are currently ranked 21st in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 3,180 points and 18th in winnings with $82,700.
• Viacheslav and Konstantin have a career 106-56 (65.4%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 69-35 (66.3%) record in 2015-16. Excluding forfeits, they are 74-30 (71.2%) in two sets and 27-25 (51.9%) in three sets, including 94-16 (85.5%) when winning the 1st set and 7-39 (15.2%) when losing the 1st set.
• Viacheslav and Konstantin won the silver medal at the European (CEV) Continental Championships in 2016 (Biel, Switzerland).
• Yaroslav and Konstantin Semenov won one gold medal on the CEV Continental Tour in 2013.
• Pool E: Defeated Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland (17), 21-14 and 21-13 in 38 minutes.
• Pool E: Defeated Esteban Grimalt/Marco Grimalt, Chile (20), 21-17 and 21-14 in 35 minutes.
• Pool E: Defeated Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands (5), 21-15, 14-21, and 15-9 in 45 minutes.
• Round of 16: Defeated Jefferson Santos Pereira/Cherif Younousse, Qatar (19), 21-13 and 21-13 in 32 minutes.
• Quarterfinals: Defeated Nivaldo Diaz/Sergio Gonzalez, Cuba (21), 22-20, 22-24, and 18-16 in 61 minutes.