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RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen from the Netherland reached the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men's beach volleyball semifinals with a 25-23, 21-17 win over compatriots Reindeer Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst on Monday.
Seeded second in the competition, Brouwer/Meeuwsen will now play Brazil's title favorite Alison Cerutti/Bruno Schmidt in Tuesday's semifinals. The Brazilians eliminated American rivals Phil Dalhausser/Nicholas Lucena with a three-set win early on Monday.
With the match report listng the wind out of the north at 84 kmh, the 2015 world champions Alison/Bruno, scored a 21-14, 12-21, 15-9 in 49 minutes over Dalhausser/Lucena for their third win in five international matches with the Americans.
This was a replay of the 2015 FIVB World Championships final, as the two pairs met in the finals while the Brazilians won the title. The top-seeded Alison/Bruno have won five of seven international meetings with Brouwer/Meeuwsen.
"I think it is going to be great. To play the home team, the first seeded team in Brazil with the home crowd that is going crazy here is a big challenge for us. We just want to play our best game and put pressure on them," said Brouwer. "The goal is a medal so we keep going on this course."
The other semifinal will see a clash between Italian Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo playing against Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov of Russia.
This is also a replay of the 2016 European Championship as the Italian pair claimed the title.
