Rio de Janeiro, August 11, 2016 - Italy's Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai and Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak of Poland meet in the "lucky loser" match for 3rd-place pool finishers giving them one more chance to advance to the elimination stage. The Italians won one of their three matches in pool C while the Poles finished with one win and two losses in pool B. The loser will finish 17th.
Head to Head
Kantor/Losiak have won the only previous meeting against Lupo/Nicolai, back in 2013
• Kantor/Losiak won 21-19, 15-21, and 15-11 in 48 minutes, Corrientes Grand Slam, Pool Play, 05/23/2013
This is the first time that the #10 and #11 seed have played in the Olympic Games. The higher seeds have won three of the four "lucky loser" round matches in Beijing (2008) and London (2012). The #10 seed has never played in this round, while the #11 seed lost its only "lucky loser" match. Lupo/Nicolai played in the London lucky loser match, defeating Josh Binstock/Martin Reader of Canada, 21-16 and 22-20 in 38 minutes in London.
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 (25y3m0d), 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 (28y0m0d), 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 201-102 (66.3%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 64-38 (62.7%) record in 2015-16.
• 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.
• Lost to Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen, Mexico (15), 21-14, 14-21, and 11-15 in 48 minutes.
• Defeated Choaib Belhaj/Mohamed Naceur, Tunisia (22), 21-17 and 21-13 in 35 minutes.
• Lost to Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States (3), 13-21, 21-17, and 22-24 in 60 minutes.
Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland, Seed #11, Pool B, 1-2, 3rd Place, Qualified 11th with 5,180 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Piotr: May 3, 1992 (24y3m3d), 200 cm (6'7"), 90 kg (200 lbs.), Hometown Sosnowiec, 56th FIVB World Tour event, one gold medal, $182,775 career winnings
• Bartosz: May 14, 1992 (24y2m23d), 190 cm (6'3"), 86 kg (191 lbs.), Hometown Jastrzebie Zdroj, 57th FIVB World Tour event, one gold medal, $194,775 career winnings
• Piotr and Bartosz have been playing together since 2009. They are playing in their 56th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 48th), one gold medal, $365,550 career winnings (ranks 51st).
• Piotr has played in six FIVB World Tour final fours with one gold, one silver, and four bronze medals.
• Bartosz has played in seven FIVB World Tour final fours with one gold, one silver, four bronze medals and one 4th place finish.
• Piotr and Bartosz have played in five Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Silver Stavanger Major 2015, Bronze Kish Island Open 2016, Gold Rio de Janeiro Grand Slam 2016, Bronze Doha Open 2016, Bronze Moscow Grand Slam 2016).
• Piotr and Bartosz finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki).
• Piotr and Bartosz are currently ranked 4th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 4,760 points and 6th in winnings with $139,750.
• Piotr and Bartosz have a career 125-97 (56.3%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 84-50 (62.7%) record in 2015-16.
• Piotr and Bartosz won the gold medal at the U19 World Championships in 2010 (Porto, Portugal).
• Piotr and Bartosz won the silver medal at the U21 World Championships in 2011 (Halifax, Canada) and the gold medal in 2012 (Halifax, Canada).
• Piotr and Bartosz won the gold medal at the U23 World Championships in 2013 (Myslowice, Poland).
• Defeated Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen, Germany (14), 21-11, 23-21 in 38 minutes.
• Lost to Dmitri Barsouk/Nikita Liamin, Russia (23), 14-21 and 17-21 in 34 minutes.
• Lost to Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands (2), 19-21 and 19-21 in 39 minutes.