Mason, Ohio, USA, May 21, 2016 – Josh Binstock/Sam Schachter duo of Canada is no stranger to FIVB gold-medal matches, but the team they’ll face will be in unprecedented territory.
Binstock and Schachter advanced to the final of the FIVB Cincinnati Open, presented by the AVP, by knocking off second-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena of the United States to continue a recent surge with a 21-17, 10-21, 15-12 victory at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
Their opponents will be Brazilians Gustavo Carvalhaes and Saymon Barbosa Santos, a pair of 22-year-olds who also advanced with a win over Americans. They scored a 21-19, 21-16 victory over John Mayer and Ryan Doherty to reach their first championship match on the FIVB World Tour.
The event, which is one of the last three Olympic qualifiers through the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is being held through Saturday at the prominent Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio and the seventh tournament in the stretch of eight straight events on the FIVB World Tour. Next week the FIVB World Tour returns to Russia for the double-gender FIVB Moscow Grand Slam.
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FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Cincinatti Open
Men - Qualification resultsWomen - Qualification resultsMen - Main draw resultsWomen - Main draw resultsVideosMen's Main Draw PhotosWomen's Main Draw PhotosBinstock and Schachter, who have won one gold medal and two silvers together on the FIVB World Tour, started the season slow but have picked up steam in the last five tournaments as they continue their chase to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics. They had to beat two Canadian teams along the way before they reached the final, including the team they are chasing, Chaim Schalk and Ben Saxton.
It was the first meeting between Schachter and Binstock against Dalhausser and Lucena, who are closing in on their own Olympic berth. The lone victory for Binstock and Schachter came in 2014, when they captured the Parana Open in Argentina.
Carvalhaes and Santos won the FIVB Under-21 world title in Croatia in 2013 and have recently been making noise in their home country, which has already qualified its allotment of two Olympic teams for Rio de Janeiro. In the Rio test event in September, they knocked off the top Brazilian team, Bruno Oscar Schmidt and Alison Cerutti, for the bronze medal.
They also picked up a bronze in the FIVB Maceio Open in February, when they defeated countrymen Vitor Felipe and Alvaro Filho.
Dalhausser and Lucena, who have three victories on the 2016 FIVB World Tour, hold a 3-1 advantage over Mayer and Doherty in head-to-head matches, winning the last three in straight sets. Dalhausser had a streak of 12 consecutive FIVB semifinal victories snapped.
Mayer and Doherty, mainstays on the domestic AVP Tour, are playing for their first FIVB medal. Their highest finish on the World Tour is fifth.
FIVB CINCINNATI OPEN PURSE/POINTS
The gold medal teams at the FIVB Cincinnati Open, presented by AVP, will split $11,000 and 500 points, the silver $8,000 and 450 points, the bronze $6,000 400 points and fourth place $4,500 and 450 points.
ON THE HORIZON
With placement points for the FIVB Olympic Rankings for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games continuing, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour continues with events over eight straight weeks through the end of May. In all, Brazil is hosting five international events in 2016. In addition to Maceió, Rio, Vitoria and Fortaleza, the Brazil events conclude with the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Aug. 6-18).
The FIVB World Tour was in Europe for two events over the last two weeks. Up first was in Russia two weeks followed by last week’s FIVB Antalya Open in Turkey (May 10-15). The tour is visiting the United States for the first time in 2016 this week for the FIVB Cincinnati Open, presented by AVP (May 17-21) in Mason, Ohio. Next week, the FIVB World Tour returns to Russia for the FIVB Moscow Grand Slam (May 24-29). After a one week respite, the final Olympic qualifying event on the FIVB World Tour will be the FIVB Hamburg Major Series in Germany (June 7-12).