Rio de Janeiro, August 11, 2016 - Tunisia's Choaib Belhaj/Mohamed Naceur are looking for their country's first Olympic win against Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen of Mexico in a pool C match on day six. A loss by Tunisia will send them home from their country's first Olympics with a 19th-place finish. A win would tie them with Mexico and possibly Italy if the USA wins the other pool play match. A win by Mexico could land them in a three-way tie for 2nd place if Italy beats the USA or in sole possession of 2nd if the Americans prevail.
Head to Head
Ontiveros/Virgen won the only match between these two teams on the FIVB World Tour
• Ontiveros/Virgen won 21-13 and 21-16 in 29 minutes, FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships 2015, Pool Play, 06/30/2015
Historically the #15 seed has won all three matches against the #22 seed in the Olympic Games.
• Sebastian Chevallier/Sascha Heyer (15), Switzerland def. Serguey Prokopyev/Konstantin Semenov (22), Russia, 28-26, 18-21, 15-13 in 69 minutes, Pool Play, London (2012).
• Renato "Geor" Gomes/Jorge "Gia" Terceiro (15), Georgia def. Morais Abreu/Emanuel Fernandes (22), Angola, 21-14, 21-13 in 40 minutes, Pool Play, Beijing (2008).
• Javier Bosma/Pablo Herrera (15), Spain def. Robert Nowotny/Peter Gartmayer (22), Austria, 21-16, 19-21, 15-11 in 55 minutes, Pool Play, Athens (2004).
Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen, Mexico, Seed #15, Pool C, 1-1, 0.667 Set Ratio, 0.9205 Point Ratio, Qualified 17th with 4,670 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Lombardo: November 9, 1983 (32y8m28d), 185 cm (6'1"), 82 kg (182 lbs.), Hometown Escuinapa, Sinaloa, 45th FIVB World Tour event, $101,625 career winnings
• Juan: April 9, 1987 (29y3m28d), 197 cm (6'6"), 94 kg (209 lbs.), Hometown Santiago Ixcuintla, 77th FIVB World Tour event, $114,025 career winnings
• Lombardo and Juan have been playing together since 2013. They are playing in their 35th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together, $195,750 career winnings (ranks 98th). They have won all four men's FIVB World Tour medals for Mexico.
• Lombardo has played in four FIVB World Tour final fours with one silver medal and three bronze medals.
• Juan has played in four FIVB World Tour final fours with one silver medal and three bronze medals.
• Lombardo and Juan have played in three Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Silver Antalya Open 2015-16, Bronze Xiamen Open 2016, Bronze Fortaleza Open 2016).
• Lombardo and Juan finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and 9th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Lombardo and Juan are currently ranked 6th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 4,430 points and 16th in winnings with $91,125.
• Lombardo and Juan have a career 93-65 (58.9%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 76-45 (62.8%) record in 2015-16.
• Lombardo and Juan won the gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games (Toronto, Canada).
• Lomarbo and Juan won the bronze medal at the NORCECA Continental Championships in 2015 (Turtle Beach, Trinidad and Tobago).
• Lomarbo and Juan won 11 gold, one silver, and two bronze medals on the NORCECA Continental Tour from 2012-15.
• Lombardo and Ulises Ontiveros won one gold, one silver, and three bronze medals on the NORCECA Continental Tour from 2010-11.
• Juan and Aldo Miramontes won 14 gold medal and five silver medals on the NORCECA Continental Tour from 2008-12.
• Juan ranks 1st all-time in NORCECA Continental Tour gold medals with 25 and Lombardo ranks fourth with 12. Cuba's Sergio Gonzalez has 15 and Aldo Miramontes has 14.
• Lombardo was named the FIVB World Tour Most Improved Player in 2015.
• Defeated Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy (10), 14-21, 21-14, and 15-11 in 48 minutes.
• Lost to Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States (3), 14-21 and 17-21 in 40 minutes.
Choaib Belhaj/Mohamed Naceur, Tunisia, Seed #22, Pool C, 0-2, 0.000 Set Ratio, 0.5952 Point Ratio, Qualified through African Confederation (CAVB) Continental Cup
• Choaib: June 4, 1987 (29y2m2d), 194 cm (6'4"), 86 kg (191 lbs.), Hometown Menzel Tmime, 2nd FIVB World Tour event, $1,700 career winnings
• Mohamed: November 4, 1988 (27y9m2d), 190 cm (6'3"), 81 kg (180 lbs.), Hometown Hamem Ghzez, 2nd FIVB World Tour event, $1,700 career winnings
• Choaib and Mohamed have been playing together since 2015. They are playing in their 2nd FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together, $3,400 career winnings.
• Choaib and Mohamed finished 37th in the FIVB World Championships in 2015 (The Hague).
• Choaib and Mohamed are the first team from Tunisia to compete in the Olympic Games for beach volleyball.
• Choaib and Mohamed with one previous FIVB World Tour event each are tied with Cuba's Nivaldo Diaz and Sergio Gonzalez as the least experienced men's players at the Rio Olympics.
• Choaib and Mohamed have a career 0-5 (0.0%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events, all in 2015-16.
• Chaoib and Mohamed finished 5th in the 11th All African Games in 2015 (Congo).
• On home sand in Kelibia, the Tunisians posted CAVB Continental Cup pool play wins at the start of May over pairs from Egypt, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Gambia. In the African "final four" Continental Cup matches, the Tunisians defeated Angola in the semi-finals before advancing to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with a 2-1 win over Morocco.
• Chaoib and Mohamed made history last June as they were first players from their country to compete in the FIVB World Championships. The last time Tunisia had players competing in a FIVB World Tour event was 1998. Salah and Naceur qualified for the FIVB World Championships by winning their pool in the African qualifier and advanced to the top of the podium by defeating pairs from Ghana and South Africa for the gold medal.
• Lost to Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States (3), 7-21 and 13-21 in 30 minutes.
• Lost to Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy (10), 17-21 and 13-21 in 35 minutes.