Lupo and Nicolai signal return to form with derby d’Italia victory

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 12, 2016 – Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai showed that they are nearing their best form by beating compatriots Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games round of 16 at Copacabana Beach Arena on Friday. 

Lupo and Nicolai won only one of their three pool matches and were drawn against Ranghieri and Carambula who had topped their pool after winning two and losing one.

However, they lost their final pool match, while Lupo and Nicolai won theirs and that form continued into the elimination rounds. READ MORE

Nivaldo Diaz and Sergio Gonzalez continued their impressive run by racking up a fourth victory in a row at Rio 2016 after they had won all three pool matches. 

This time the Cuban duo knocked out Austrians Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst, a side who won silver at the Porec Major Series event at the start of July and who qualified as one of the best third-place teams. 

Diaz and Gonzalez didn’t hang around either, wrapping up a 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) victory in 37 minutes. READ MORE

Konstantin Semenov and Viacheslav Krasilnikov also maintained their unbeaten run to become the first Russian team to reach an Olympic Games quarterfinals. 

Semenov and Krasilnikov ended the hopes of Qatar’s Jefferson Pereira and Cherif Younousse with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) win. READ MORE

Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst, the team that finished second behind Semenov and Krasilnikov, set up a potential all-Dutch quarterfinal against 2013 world champs Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen, who play on Saturday, after they beat Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros.

The Dutch pair beat the Mexicans 2-0 (21-18, 21-15). READ MORE