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The Lion King begins his quest for gold against Canada
- Updated: August 6, 2016
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 6, 2016 – Latvia’s Lion King, Aleksandrs Samoilovs, and his partner Janis Smedins try to recapture London Olympics magic against Canada’s Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk in the final match of day two. Smedins won the bronze medal in London with Martins Plavins and
Head to Head
The Canadian’s lead the series 4-3 in FIVB World Tour competition, dating back to 2013. The Latvians won two of the three meetings in 2013, with all three finishing in straight sets. The next three matches, all won by Saxton/Schalk, required a third set with a 24-22, 18-21, 16-14 pool play win in 57 minutes in July, 2014, a 21-17, 17-21, 16-14 round of 24 win in 49 minutes in March, 2016, and a 19-21, 30-28, 20-18 bronze-medal triumph at the Porec Major in 61 minutes in July, 2016. Samoilovs/Smedins won the last meeting between the two pairs in the semi-finals of the Klagenfurt Major, 21-16 and 21-18, right before the Olympics began.
Historically the #16 seed has upset the #9 seed in three of the four matches in the Olympic Games. The #9 seed won the first meeting in Sydney (2000), 15-7 in sideout scoring, and the #16 seed has won the last three using rally scoring, including a straight-set win in Athens (2004) and two three-set wins in Beijing (2008), 21-16, 18-21, 16-14 in 58 minutes, and London (2012), 12-21, 21-15, 15-12 in 50 minutes.
Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins, Latvia, Seed #9, Pool D, Qualified 8th with 5,390 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Aleksandrs: April 6, 1985 (31y4m0d), 196 cm (6’5″), 96 kg (213 lbs.), Hometown Riga, 136th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 24th), nine gold medals (ranks 21st), $590,087 career winnings (ranks 25th)
• Janis: July 31, 1987 (29y0m6d), 191 cm (6’3″), 84 kg (186 lbs.), Hometown Kuldiga, 98th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 80th), 10 gold medals (ranks 17th), $509,987 career winnings (ranks 33rd)
• Aleksandrs and Janis have been playing together since 2013. They are playing in their 47th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 58th), nine gold medals (ranks 10th), $771,675 career winnings (ranks 16th).
• Aleksandrs has played in 22 FIVB World Tour final fours with nine gold, six silver, three bronze medals and four 4th …
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