Samoilovs/Šmēdiņš eliminated from Rio

Take note – story published 7 years ago

Latvian beach volleyball duo Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Jānis Šmēdiņš lost to Evandro Oliveira/Pedro Solberg Salgado (Brazil) in the decisive preliminary round game on the night to Thursday. 

The score was 1-2 (16:21, 22:20, 7:15) and the Latvian duo concluded the Olympic tournament in 19th place.

The first game was initially tight with Šmēdiņš/Samoilovs taking the lead at one point. The second seemed destined to conclude the game in favor of the Brazilians, however the Latvian duo managed to break the game in the middle of the second game.

While the third game started favorably for Šmēdiņš/Samoilovs, but Oliveira/Salgado were quick to gain a decisive edge. The strong wind affected the game as well.

The Latvians placed fourth in Pool D, failing to advance to the final round.

Samoilovs/Šmēdiņš beat Saxton/Schalk 2-1 (21:17, 18:21, 15:13) on Monday, and lost to Diaz/Gonzalez 1-2 (21:23, 21:19, 9:15) on Tuesday. 

The Latvian duo closed 2013 and 2014 seasons as the world's top-ranked beach volleyball duo.

Šmēdiņš won bronze at the London Olympics four years ago. 

They were among the sportsmen expected to have a chance to score medals for Latvia at the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

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