Russia celebrate their 3-0 win over Canada to advance to the semifinals of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 17, 2016 – Russia advanced to the semifinals and move one step closer to defend their gold medal, as they overpowered Canada 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-18) in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men’s volleyball quarterfinals at Maracanazinho on Wednesday.
Russia are in a good position to claim their second straight Olympic gold medal in Rio 2016. In London 2012, the Russians made an incredible comeback against Brazil in the tie-break set, which gave them their fourth gold medal in their history. They have previously won three gold medals under the banner of the Soviet Union.
Maxim Mikhaylov scored 12 attacks and an ace to lead Russia, then Egor Kliuka and Sergey Tetyukhin added 10 points each. John Gordon Perrin top scored for Canada with 11.
Mikhaylov steered a great Russian start, while his counterpart Gavin Schmitt struggled with a string of errors. Schmitt redeemed himself with a great spike to reduce the lead 11-9, then Jansen Vandoorn reduced the lead further 11-10. Mikhaylov, Tetyukhin and Kliuka powered the Russian run to reach set point 24-15, then Artem Volvich sealed the set victory with a block 25-15.
Russia had another great start in the second set and gained edge 7-3, but Canada persevered with Perrin and Nicholas Hoag’s excellent offence to trail closely at 19-18. Tetyukhin and Volvich responded with two straight points to lift the Russian side 21-18, then Mikhaylov and Kliuka charged from the flanks to win the second set 25-20.
Mikhaylov once again produced precious points from the three-metre line, as he completely disregarded the tough Canadian block to give his team the advantage in the third set. Tetyukhin added to the misery of the Canadian defence as he converted points on his attempts. Perrin tried to get the Canadian offence going, but the Russians got some excellent digs on them. Russia raced to the end of the set 25-18 after Kliuka’s thundering cross-court spike.
Quick links - Women's Semifinals - Thursday, August 18: