The Hague, The Netherlands, July 1, 2015 - Top-seeded Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst of The Netherlands will play their second-straight opponent from Russia on the sand at The Hofvijver stadium court here Thursday afternoon with a berth in the quarter-finals at stake.
Tenth-seeded Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Konstantin Semenov of Russia will be playing Nummerdor and Varenhorst for the second-time on the FIVB World Tour after the Dutch posted a two-set win last August over the Russians in the Polish Grand Slam in Stare Jablonki. It was the first international event for the Nummerdor/Varenhorst partnership.
Nummerdor and Varenhorst have won all four of their matches in the 2015 world championships and are the last host country team playing in the men’s competition. The Dutch captured Pool A with wins over pairs from El Salvador, Poland and Cuba. Playing in their eighth FIVB World Tour events, Nummerdor and Varenhorst will be seeking their seven appearance in the quarter-finals on the international circuit.
While Nummerdor is guaranteed his best-ever finish in the world championships after four-straight 17ths in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 with Richard Schuill, Varenhorst has bettered his 17th with Daan Spijkers when the event was staged in Stare Jablonki, Poland.
Competing in their 17th FIVB World Tour event together, the Russians are seeking their seventh quarter-final appearance. Krasilnikov and Semenov are 3-1 in the world championships after finishing second in Pool J to Theo Brunner and Nick Lucena of the United States in Amsterdam. While Krasilnikov is competing in his first-ever world championships, Semenov placed ninth with Yaroslav Koshkarev in both 2011 and 2013.
Reinder Nummerdor / Christiaan Varenhorst (NED), 1st Place Pool A, The Hague
• Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst have been playing together since 2014. They are playing in their 8th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together.
• Reinder has played in 25 FIVB World Tour final fours with 11 gold, six silver, two bronze medals and six 4th place finishes.
• Christiaan has played in 6 FIVB World Tour final fours with two gold, one silver, one bronze medal and two 4th place finishes.
• Reinder and Christiaan have played in 2 Final Fours in 2015 (4th Porec Major Series, Silver St. Petersburg Grand Slam).
• Reinder finished 5th in the Olympic Games in 2008 (Beijing) 5th, and 4th in 2012 (London), both with Richard Schuil.
• Reinder and Christiaan are currently ranked 4th in FIVB World Tour points in 2015 with 2,500 points and 4th in winnings with $97,000.
• Reinder (11) ranks 13th and Christiaan (2) ranks 48th in all-time FIVB World Tour individual gold medals.
• Reinder ($540,625) ranks 25th and Christiaan ($196,200) ranks 94th in all-time FIVB World Tour individual earnings.
• Reinder and Christiaan won the gold medal at the 2014 CEV Beach Volleyball European Baku Masters in 2014 (Baku, Azerbaijan).
• Reinder won gold medals at the European Championship Final with Richard Schuil in 2008 (Hamburg, Germany), 2009 (Sochi, Russia), and 2010 (Berlin, Germany).
• Reinder is tied with Schuil and Switzerland’s Martin Laciga with the most CEV gold medals with 9.
• Christiaan won the silver medal at the U21 World Championships with Alexander Brouwer in 2008 (Brighton, England).
• Reinder was named the FIVB World Tour Best Defensive Player in 2009 and 2011.
• Christiaan was named the FIVB World Tour Top Rookie in 2012.
Viacheslav Krasilnikov / Konstantin Semenov (RUS), 2nd Place Pool J, Amsterdam
• Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Konstantin Semenov have been playing together since 2013. They are playing in their 17th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together.
• Viacheslav has played in 4 FIVB World Tour final fours with one gold, two silver and one bronze medal.
• Konstantin has played in 5 FIVB World Tour final fours with two gold, two silver, and one bronze medal.
• Viacheslav’s and Konstantin’s last Final Four was a Gold at Moscow in June, 2014.
• Konstantin finished 9th in the Olympic Games with Serguey Prokopyev in 2012 (London).
• Viacheslav and Konstantin are currently ranked 17th in FIVB World Tour points in 2015 with 1920 points and 21st in winnings with $42,375.
• Viacheslav and Konstantin won the silver medal at the 2014 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite Anapa in 2014 (Anapa, Russia).
• Konstantin won the gold medal at the 2013 CEV Beach Volleyball European Baden Masters with Yaroslav Koshkarev in 2013 (Baden, Austria).
Nummerdor/Varenhorst lead the Head to Head 1-0
• Stare Jablonki Grand Slam, 08/23/2014, Winner 2, Nummerdor/Varenhorst won 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) (0:29)