RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's men reached the gold medal match of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament, beating the Netherlands in three sets to clinch no worse than a silver medal.
After a loss by the top-seeded Brazilian women quieted the Copacabana crowd in the early Tuesday semifinal, Alison and Bruno brought it back to life. The fans in the 12,000-seat stadium rose to their feet for Brazil's double-match point in the second set, but the Dutch came back to force a tiebreaking third set.
The Brazilians beat Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen 21-17, 21-23, 16-14. The 6-foot-8 Alison, known as "Mammoth" collapsed face-first on the sand, while Bruno slapped alternately at a television camera and his own chest in celebration.
Alison and Bruno will play the winner of tonight's semifinal between Russia's Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Konstantin Semenov and Italy's Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo.
Below is the men's beach volleyball elimination bracket.
After a loss by the top-seeded Brazilian women quieted the Copacabana crowd in the early Tuesday semifinal, Alison and Bruno brought it back to life. The fans in the 12,000-seat stadium rose to their feet for Brazil's double-match point in the second set, but the Dutch came back to force a tiebreaking third set.
The Brazilians beat Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen 21-17, 21-23, 16-14. The 6-foot-8 Alison, known as "Mammoth" collapsed face-first on the sand, while Bruno slapped alternately at a television camera and his own chest in celebration.
Alison and Bruno will play the winner of tonight's semifinal between Russia's Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Konstantin Semenov and Italy's Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo.
Below is the men's beach volleyball elimination bracket.
