Martins Plavins & Kristians Fokerots achieved a stunning victory over top-seeded Olympic champions David Ahman & Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden in a Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 quarterfinal in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday and moved on to Sunday’s semifinals, where they will meet Argentina’s Nicolas Capogrosso & Tomas Capogrosso. England’s Joaquin Bello & Javier Bello continued their journey from Wednesday’s qualifiers into the semifinals, where they will take on Norway’s Anders Mol & Christian Sorum.

• Watch the Rio de Janeiro Elite16 on VBTV.

Saturday’s action opened in a particularly spectacular fashion, with all four of the men’s eighthfinals extending to third-set deciders. In one of them, reigning European champions Plavins & Fokerots, seeded seventh in the main draw bracket, achieved a hard-fought 2-1 (24-22, 16-21, 15-13) victory over fourth-seeded Brazilians Adrielson Dos Santos & Arthur Da Silva, with 19-year-old Fokerots raising six kill blocks towards a 29-point match high. In the quarterfinals, the Latvians coped with the world’s number one team in straight sets, although the first one was pushed to overtime, 2-0 (23-21, 21-17). Fokerots led the way with 18 points, including three blocks, while his experienced 39-year-old partner, London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Plavins, added 17 points, including one ace.

Plavins & Fokerots started touring together in August 2023 and now is the first time they reach the semifinals of an Elite16 tournament. Meanwhile, for Ahman & Hellving this loss meant the end of an amazing run, medalling at 12 consecutive major international events (Olympic Games, World Championships, Beach Pro Tour, European Championships), in which they took part. The last time the Swedish duo finished off the podium was at the Ostrava Elite16 in May 2023.

Fifth-seeded Capogrosso & Capogrosso will be Plavins & Fokerots’ next challenge. The two pairs will clash for a place in the final in one of Sunday’s semifinals. In their quarterfinal, the Argentinean brothers produced a 2-0 (21-19, 21-12) shutout of eighth-seeded Mathias Berntsen & Hendrik Mol of Norway, with a 20-point match high from Nicolas, including five blocks and an ace. This was the second time the Argentinean duo reached the semis of an Elite16 event, after doing so at their previous appearance in Joao Pessoa as well, and overall the fourth time they made the last four at a Beach Pro Tour stop altogether.

In another quarterfinal, 14^th-seeded Bello & Bello took on 12^th-seeded Sergiy Popov & Eduard Reznik of Ukraine and overcame their resistance in straight sets, 2-0 (21-19, 21-13), to continue their Cinderella story into Sunday’s semifinals. It was a historic achievement for the English pair as they reached the semifinals of an Elite16 event for the first time. While Joaquin Bello impressed with six kill blocks towards the victory, his twin brother Javier was the best scorer of the match with 21 points, all in attack.

In a battle for a spot in the gold medal showdown, the Bellos will have the challenging task of playing against second-seeded Mol & Sorum, Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions, former world and European champions and former number one team in the world. In the quarterfinals, the Beachvolley Vikings outplayed third-seeded Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan of Qatar. This remake of the spectacular Joao Pessoa final also lasted three sets and Mol & Sorum once again emerged with a 2-1 (21-16, 16-21, 15-12) victory. Mol was on fire with as many as six aces and four kill blocks towards a match-high 22 points.

VW Beach Pro Tour Rio de Janeiro Elite16: results and schedule

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