Sochi, Russia, May 1, 2016 - For the Russian Beach Volleyball pair of Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov, the “final push” for Olympic glory begins this week on “home sand” as the FIVB World Tour returns to the Black Sea coastal resort for the second-time in the last eight months.
With seven Russian men’s pairs entered in the event led by Krasilnikov and Semenov, this week’s US$150,000 Sochi Open has attracted 103 men’s and women’s teams from 35 countries for the second annual event to be held on the “Sport Inn” courts. Eight women’s teams from Russia will also be competing led by Olympians Ekaterina Birlova and Evgeniya Ukolova.
Sochi, which hosted the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2014, will be the site for the second-straight week of a major world-wide sporting event as the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix will finish here Sunday. Sochi also will be one of the host cities for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
MOTIVATION
“With the Sochi Open being one of the last qualifying events for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the motivation will be double for all the teams competing, especially for the top Russian pairs,” said the 26-year old Semenov, who will be competing in his 28th FIVB World Tour event with Krasilnikov. “With Sochi now and Moscow at the end of May, the two Russian stops on the world tour are very important for us. Combined with playing on home sand and competing for a spot in the Olympics, there will a spotlight on us this week.”
Playing in the spotlight is not new for Semenov, who qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games with Serguey Prokopyev. Instead of earning a London berth via the FIVB World Tour, Semenov and Prokopyev netted one of the two final 2012 Olympic berths via the Continental Cup competition were the Russian pair won six of seven matches in the Moscow happening to advance to the quadrennial event.
“It’s different this time in qualifying for the Olympics,” said Semenov, who started playing full-time on the FIVB World Tour in 2010 with this week’s Sochi Open being his 70th start on the international circuit. “I was younger and my Beach Volleyball experience wasn’t on the same level as it is now. The London Olympic Games were also something new for me. Now it’s different. I’m more experienced, I’m more confident. I have had an Olympic taste and know what a great feeling it is. So my dream now is not only to qualify to Rio, but to win a medal.”
BETTERING SOCHI'S SEPTEMBER FOURTH
Semenov and the 25-year old Krasilnikov will be seeking to better their fourth-place finish in last September’s Sochi Open where the Russians dropped their final two matches to Americans Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena and Italians Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai after opening the event with five-straight wins.
Dalhausser and Lucena dropped the 44-minute September Sochi gold medal match to Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins of Latvia 2-0 (24-22, 21-19) while Lupo and Nicolai captured the 55-minute bronze match over the Russians (21-18, 15-21, 15-13). While the Americans will not be competing this week, Samoilovs/Smedins and the Italians will be back to defend their Sochi medals.
“We had a good event last year here,” said Semenov. “Our goal was to win a medal, so we were very disappointed when we did not reach the podium. We played pretty good and had some great practice during European Continental Cup a week before. But unfortunately, we lost in the games you mentioned. Home events are very special for each athlete. So it’s always great to win at home in from of our family and fans.”
NO. 13
With five FIVB World Tour events left on qualifying schedule for the Rio 2016 Olympics along with the European championships at the start of June in Switzerland, Semenov and Krasilnikov are currently rank 13th on the provisional ranking list Summer Games to be played August 6-18 on iconic Copacabana.
The Russians have compiled 4,460 points for their 12 best finishes on FIVB World Tour since the start of qualifying in April 2015. To improve their ranking points in Sochi, Semenov and Krasilnikov must finish fifth or higher as the Russians are competing with pairs from Germany and Mexico for the final three spots on the FIVB World Tour qualifying list where the top 15 teams with a maximum of two per country earning berths in the Rio Games.
Semenov and Krasilnikov currently have a 60 point advantage on Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen of Germany (4,400) and 80 points over No. 15 Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen of Mexico (3,980). Both teams will not be competing in Sochi as Fluggen is sidelined with an injury and the Mexicans are taking an event off after playing the last four weeks in Qatar, China and Brazil. Both pairs will rejoin the “Chase to Copacabana” next week in Turkey where Semenov and Krasilnikov are not scheduled to play in Antalya.
RISING CHALLENGER
Also competing for one of the final three berths are London 2012 Olympians Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik. The Germans moved into the No. 16 spot Saturday with a pair of FIVB World Tour wins Saturday in Brazil to advance to the Fortaleza finale against the host country pair of Oscar Brandao and Andre Loyola, who posted a 2-0 (21-19, 21-11) win over Ontiveros and Virgen in a 35-minute semi-final match.
Hampered by injuries for Matysik, the Fortaleza stop was the Germans 11th qualify event for the Rio Olympics as the pair is expected to satisfy the 12-event participation requirement this week. A “final four” finish in the Sochi Open could propel Erdmann and Matysik into the top 15 on the provisional list. The Germans currently have compiled 3,990 points and a win Sunday in Fortaleza would improve the Germans’ provisional total by 50 points.
“There are some strong couples ranked not far from us,” said Semenov. “So you can’t be confident until we get a ticket to Rio. It’s very important to show good results in Sochi and at the end of the month in Moscow to be more confident for the Rio.” Following the Sochi and Antalya events, the final three FIVB World Tour qualifying events will be played in the United States (Cincinnati, May 17-22), Moscow (May 24-29) and Germany (Hamburg, June 7-12).
PARTNERSHIP HIGHLIGHT
The 2014 Moscow stop was the highlight of the Semenov/Krasilnikov partnership during the pair’s first season together on the FIVB World Tour. The Russians won seven of eight matches in the mid-June event to capture the gold medal where Semenov/Krasilnikov posted elimination wins over Erdmann/Matysik, Samoilovs/Smedins, Nicolai/Lupo and Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek / Mariusz Prudel (2-0, 23-21, 21-17) in the 38-minute finale.
The Sochi Open begins Tuesday with qualifying for the final eight spots in both the men’s and women’s 32-team Main Draws. The “money rounds” will start with pool play Wednesday and Thursday followed by elimination matches beginning Friday. The semi-finals will be played Saturday with the medal matches Sunday where the winning men’s and women’s pairs will each share the $11,000 first-place prizes.