The last two beach volleyball men’s Olympic champions, Sweden’s David Åhman/Jonatan Hellvig and Norway’s Anders Mol/Christian Sørum will clash in the semifinals of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour João Pessoa Elite16 on Sunday.

The duel between the Swedish, who won gold in Paris two months ago, and the Norwegians, who topped the podium in Tokyo in 2021 and took bronze in the French capital, will happen in the second semifinal, scheduled for 9:00 local time (12:00 GMT). Earlier, at 8:00 local time (11:00 GMT), Qatar’s Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan and Argentina’s Nicolas Capogrosso/Tomas Capogrosso will meet for the other spot in the gold medal match, which is scheduled for 17:00 local time (20:00 GMT).

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Swedish and Norwegians have arguably the most exciting rivalry in men’s beach volleyball right now as the two teams have dominated the sport in the last seven years.

Mol, 27, and Sørum, 28, were undoubtedly the best team in the world from 2018 to 2021, winning 13 gold medals in international events, besides the title of the 2022 FIVB World Championship and four European titles in a run that set several records in the sport.

Propelled by their unprecedented jump-set playing style, Åhman, 22, and Hellvig, 23, started their rise in the international scene in 2022 and since then have topped the podium in ten Beach Pro Tour tournaments, while also securing back-to-back continental titles.

Sunday’s encounter in Brazil will be the eighth between the teams and the first since the Swedish dethroned the Norwegians to become the reigning Olympic champions. Mol and Sørum won four of the past seven duels, but Åhman and Hellvig came out on top in the last two.

To make it to the semifinals in João Pessoa and continue their defense of last year’s title in the city, the Swedish topped Brazilians Gustavo ‘Guto’ Carvalhaes and Vitor Felipe 2-1 (18-21, 21-14, 15-11) in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Mol and Sørum, who won in Brazil back in 2019, in Itapema, overcame reigning European champions Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots of Latvia in their two-set (21-16, 21-18) quarterfinal encounter.

Beach Pro Tour João Pessoa Elite16 – Match Schedule & Results

Qataris bounce back

After ending pool play with a defeat on Friday, Tokyo Olympic bronze medalists Cherif and Ahmed recovered on Saturday, beating Brazilians Adrielson dos Santos and Arthur Mariano in straight sets (21-15, 21-15) in the quarterfinals to return to the semifinals on the Beach Pro Tour for the first time since last year’s Finals.

Their opponents for a spot in the gold medal match will be the Argentinean Capogrosso brothers Tomas and Nicolas, who unlike the other three semifinalists, had to play twice on Saturday in João Pessoa.

The South Americans started the day in the Round of 12, where they eliminated continental rivals and Paris Olympians Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci of Brazil in two sets (21-18, 21-19). In the quarterfinals, the Capogrossos came from behind to defeat Norwegians Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen 2-1 (20-22, 21-19, 15-13) and advance to their second semifinal in the season and their first at the Elite16 level.

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