Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 18, 2016 - Hosts Brazil and defending champions Russia set themselves up to clash in the men's volleyball semifinals of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after both scored convincing wins in Wednesday's quarterfinals, together with Italy and USA.
The Brazil v Russia match, scheduled for Friday night at 22:15, is a rematch of the
epic battle in the final of the London 2012 Olympic Games, when Russia came back from two sets down to claim gold.
Brazil produced a confident performance to take down arch rivals Argentina
3-1 (25-22, 17-25, 25-19, 25-23) in a game tighter than then the score might suggest. They secured their semifinal ticket after a shaky pool play performance and a last-minute dramatic qualification to the top eight.
Russia had started off quarterfinals day with a most solid win
3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-18) over a Canadian team that seemed content at just having reached the top eight.
Beijing 2008 gold medallists USA returned to the medals round after a fifth-place finish in London 2012 with an impressive
3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20) over reigning world champions Poland.
And London 2012 bronze medallists Italy survived a bit of bother in the first set to shut out Olympic rookies Iran
3-0
(31-29, 25-19, 25-17), as Ivan Zaytsev
delivered the fastest service of the tournament so far to tie the Olympic record of 127 kilometres per hour.
The men's semifinals at Rio 2016 are scheduled for Friday:
13:00 - Italy v USA
22:15 - Russia v Brazil
Summary Statistics - Men’s Tournament Rio 2016Highest Scorer by Day21 – Facundo Conte of Argentina v Iran on August 7
23 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Iran on August 9
21 – Earvin Ngapeth of France v Canada on August 11
36 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Russia on August 13
26 – Antonin Rouzier of France v Brazil on August 15
24 – Wallace de Souza of Brazil v Argentina on August 17
Top Scoring Performances36 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Russia on August 13
26 – Antonin Rouzier of France v Brazil on August 15
25 – Antonin Rouzier of France v United States on August 13
25 – Gavin Schmitt of Canada v Italy on August 15
24 – Wallace de Souza of Brazil v Argentina on August 17
23 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Iran on August 9
Top Individual Blocking Performances8 – Seyed Mousavi of Iran v Poland on August 9
8 – Artem Volvich of Russia v Egypt on August 11
5 – Facundo Conte of Argentina v Iran on August 7
5 – Pablo Crer of Argentina v Russia on August 9
5 – Seyed Mousavi of Iran v Cuba on August 11
5 – Graham Vigrass of Canada v Mexico on August 13
5 – Emanuele Birarelli of Italy v Brazil on August 13
5 – Mauricio de Souza of Brazil v France on August 15
Top Individual Service Performances5 – Maxwell Holt of United States v Mexico on August 15
4 – Ricardo Lucarelli of Brazil v Mexico on August 7
Top Team Blocking Performances17 – Russia v Egypt on August 11
13 – Iran v Poland on August 9
13 – Iran v Cuba on August 11
13 – Argentina v Cuba on August 13
13 – Italy v Brazil on August 13
Top Team Serving Performances10 – Egypt v Cuba on August 9
9 – Brazil v Mexico on August 7
Highest Scoring Sets37-35 Poland v Argentina (3rd Set) on August 11
31-29 Iran v Cuba (2nd Set) on August 11
31-29 Italy v Iran (1st Set) on August 17
28-26 Italy v United States (1st Set) on August 9
28-26 Iran v Egypt (1st Set) on August 13
26-24 Argentina v Iran (2nd Set) on August 7
26-24 Canada v Brazil (1st Set) on August 9
Highest Scoring Matches217 – Poland d Iran 3-2 (25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 20-25, 18-16) on August 9
202 – Russia d Poland 3-2 (25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-10) on August 13
195 – Italy d United States 3-1 (28-26, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23) on August 9
Quick links - Men's Quarterfinals - Wednesday, August 17:Brazil beat Argentina 3-1 (25-22, 17-25, 25-17, 25-19)
Quick links - Women's Semifinals - Thursday, August 18: