Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 7, 2016 - The Grimalt cousins were hoping for a better outcome for their country’s first-ever appearance in Olympic beach volleyball competition, but Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst were not in a giving mood here Sunday as the Netherlands “chilled” the Chileans' hopes with a two-set Pool E victory.
The silver medal winners at the 2015 FIVB World Championships at The Hague, Nummerdor and Varenhorst posted a 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) win in 41 minutes over Esteban and Marco Grimalt in the last match of Sunday’s mid-day session at the “Coliseu on Copacabana”.
The two teams were meeting internationally for the first-time in 2016 as the Grimalts won the last meeting in August 2015 at the Olsztyn Grand Slam in Poland. Prior to Olsztyn match, Nummerdor and Varenhorst had defeated the Chileans three-straight times with the first meeting at the end of 2014 in a gold medal match won by the Dutch in South Africa.
The Grimalts led 6-5 in the first set before the Dutch scored 11 of the next 14 points to control the opening set. Nummerdor and Varenhorst led 4-2 in the second set and broke it open with a six-point run to take a 10-2 lead. The towering Varenhorst (212 cm, 6’11”) played a key role in the Dutch success with seven blocks in the match.
Nummerdor and Varenhorst resume action Tuesday against Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel of Poland while the Grimalts challenge Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Konstantin Semenov of Russia.
